Valor and Harmony
by Yondaime-dono
Summary: Companion fic to Yondaime : Strength of a Nation...a fic exploring the developing relationship between Kazama Arashi the Yondaime Hokage and his longtime friend Uzumaki Narashima...given rating for mild violence. Please R&R!
1. Courage Under Fire

_Before we begin..if you aren't reading my other fics, see the bottom A/N (I don't want to clutter the top of the file). Asterisks denote things explained in the Author's Notes at the bottom._

Presented for your approval!

_ From the Yondaime Story Arc:_  
**_Valor & Harmony _**  
**Chapter 1: Courage Under Fire**

He hated feeling this way. Yet, it was almost a tradition now. 

No matter what he did, Kazama Arashi always felt the same annoyance near the end of a day of training. Perhaps it was due to years of training under the legendary Jiraiya…and always having some random annoyance (normally some type of "motivation" for one of the sennin's books) end his training prematurely. But even after he'd stopped being around Jiraiya, his annoyance continued. Being promoted to become the 4th Hokage apparently had done nothing to change this. With little warning, his anger had suddenly surfaced as he trained against the battle tree, a large section of a tree with many small, pole-like branches used to practice advanced taijutsu techniques.*

Arashi didn't want to take any chances with his genin candidates…one of them had claimed to be good at taijutsu, and he would make sure to show his own skills. Tomorrow was the day planned for his genin to take the test and prove their worthiness, and Arashi was going to be totally certain of his own skills before testing them. That way, he could be sure they earned it. _2 hours of training taijutsu, then I'll spend an hour on ninpo…then the rest of the night will be planning the genin test for tomorrow._ Yet, he was only an hour and a half into the planned session before the annoyance showed itself. As if that weren't enough, Arashi _knew_ he was being watched. One of Kakashi's friends was not far off, thinking he was sneaking around…poor Gai was less of an effective sneaker than he ever imagined. Yet that wasn't the one grating on Arashi's nerves. He couldn't pinpoint it…but he just had the feeling that something else was watching him.

It didn't surprise him all that much when he suddenly sensed an urge to kill, either. Continuing his spar with the battle tree, he evaded the suddenly thrown kunai, acting as if he had not noticed it. He even went as far as to grab the kunai - stuck hard into the wood of the tree-for balance as he threw a back kick up and hit the post next to it. He could feel Gai's nervousness as he repeated the experiment when the second kunai came flying in. A smirk slowly crossed his face as he realized he might get an opportunity to vent some frustration on something _not_ wooden.

As he suddenly felt the movement around him, he wondered if whoever this was had figured out _who_ it was they were facing…their bold movements suggested perhaps they hadn't. Without even acknowledging the presence of the shinobi that was rushing in on him from behind, Arashi threw some open palm strikes at various points on the battle tree, striking upwards and above his head at one of the branch grips, holding it tightly. As he heard the first actual sound of movement approaching him (the snap of a twig), he pulled up on that grip and leaped into the air, turning in midair and delivering a fierce tornado kick to the face of his adversary, knocking the kunai from the enemy's hand with the force of his attack.

As the attacking shinobi went flying backwards and knocked into a tree, Arashi landed in a low stance, his feet spread and knees bent, and extended his right fist forward, pulling his left one back to his side. Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him and peered back, noticing an interesting-looking ninja had appeared behind him. _Not bad,_ Arashi thought. _A shadow clone…_ As he turned to face the ninja, the clone he'd knocked into the tree finally disappeared.

Taking a look at the enemy before him, he noticed 2 things. First off, this enemy was dressed as a hunter-nin, wearing a wolf mask along with his purple, black and gold outfit. Second off, this enemy was wearing clothes and the forehead protector of Lightning country. _A Rai hunter-nin? Here? How in the world did he get past our ANBU without word coming to me? How did he find me? What in the heck…_

He stood upright for a moment, his eyes revealing the earlier annoyance. Arashi looked directly to the eyeholes on the mask of the adversary. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, you picked the absolute worst time ever to screw with me…"

Blazing forward at a speed few could pick up with their eyes, Arashi seemingly glided toward the hunter, and quickly pinned the warrior against the side of a tree with his left forearm. In a surge of anger, he raised his right hand-open palmed-and his eyes widened. 

The hunter blinked behind the mask, then focused eyes diverted their sight towards the open hand, just in time to see the air around it seemingly rush about in a tight ball. The hunter lightly gasped and began to struggle for freedom, feeling the intense amount of chakra in the man's palm…

Arashi noticed two things in that first moment of contact with the hunter, one infinitely more distracting than the other. The first was that what he had rammed himself into and pinned against the tree was not a _bunshin,_ since it had not disappeared. The second was the small whiff of perfume that hinted at his nose. _It wasn't bad enough already…now a **girl** thunder village hunter-nin snuck into our village?_ Making note of both observations for later purposes, he lost his concentration for a moment and didn't notice the girl struggling.

For his mistake, he took a knee to the gut, and then the girl was seemingly gone. _Ugh. That was such a stupid slip-up to have._ Making a quick search of the area, he discovered the hunter-nin behind him, about 10 feet away. The clues he had received so far didn't lead to any solid conclusions. _No matter...I'll just have to drag out more. My faith in Konoha is too big to accept this as what it seems to be._ Arashi took a moment and drew out of his fighting stance, standing before the kunoichi with quite the angry look on his face.

"What is this charade? I thought we had a cease-order… these random incursions on our land…"

"Raikage would never agree to such a thing with you Konoha filth…he is too strong a ninja to surrender to you."

He smirked slightly, noticing how the girl tried to cover up her voice and sound like a man. _Funny I didn't notice that unnatural tenor before…we know it's a female…but let's see if we've really got Thunder Jounin walking around in our backyard or not…_

"Well that's odd, considering I just talked to her not even 2 hours ago…"

The hunter-nin looked surprised for a moment, taking an awkward step backwards with her right foot. "You're full of it. There are no girl kages."

Arashi laughed. "You just proved you're full of it…you don't even know your own leader." _Good…Raikage has nothing to do with this. But still…who is this?_ "So then…if you're not a hunter-nin of hidden Thunder…maybe you don't know who you're screwing with."

With a return to his fighting position, Arashi continued to speak. "I am the 4th Hokage of Konohagakure…if you wish to continue this fight, I won't hold back, and I will kill you. If you surrender now, then I'll let you go if you just tell me who you are and what the hell you want."

He saw the nin's leg twitch slightly…_good…so I proved my point well enough. Now let's see who this is…_ "WELL? I don't have all day to toy with you…"

With a bit of hesitation, he noticed, the ninja opposite him finally responded. "Idiot. You will be the one who dies here. Not me."

--------------------------------------------------------- 

With more than a bit of surprise, the kunoichi found herself hesitant to speak. Her charade wasn't working the way she had hoped. The 4th hokage stood before her, far more confident in his abilities than she would have ever guessed. Yet, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. "Idiot. You will be the one who dies here. Not me." Pulling a metal staff from her side, she twisted the staff and extended it to full length.

No one who'd ever underestimated her had lived the same way again afterwards. She would ensure the same thing once more…

---------------------------------------------------------- 

Arashi watched carefully as she took out her staff, momentarily regretting leaving his sword near the battle tree. With a moment's reprieve from what he anticipated would be a flurried assault, Arashi took a mental snapshot of the area, making note of the position of the trees and terrain. He also took careful note of the battle tree, about 15 feet off to his left now. _If push comes to shove…that's where I'm headed._

With a start, he alertly evaded her first attack, just barely turning his vision back her way in time. _Yikes…she's fast._ Luckily, she had swung the staff as soon as she'd gotten within striking range, and a quick lean back was all it took to evade. With a flick of the wrist and a turn of the neck, however, she rotated the staff around her own body, rolling it across her neck. Grasping it with her hands as it reached the right side of her neck, she quickly pushed, keeping its momentum going around her as she prepared for another swing.

Arashi was slightly off-balance, but he waited a moment to adjust…just long enough for her to commit the staff to some particular direction. As she swung the staff along the ground, going for his legs, he quickly jumped to clear it, leaping forward and closing the distance while grabbing a kunai from the holster on his right hip. Before he landed, she had taken a step back with her right foot, into a defensive stance.

A quick slash of the kunai was met with a block by the bo, and a frontal stab was blocked head on with the staff. _She's got some skill…definitely Jounin level. I've got to stay in range at all costs and keep her on the defensive._ With a quick turn of his hand, he hooked the kunai beneath her staff, and used it to hamper her movement. With his free hand, he quickly struck forward with open palm, attempting to catch her at the sternum.

He was quite surprised when instead of attempting to evade (which would probably allow him to wrestle the staff away from her), she stepped in. Before his open palm strike could get any momentum going, she stepped in, forcing it to hit her chest with little force. Continuing her motion, she hooked her right leg behind his leading left, and clipped him. 

Arashi lost the kunai on the way down, quite a bit surprised she had seen that opening. As soon as he hit the ground, he rolled to the side, dodging her quick strikes at his head with her staff. Without a moment's delay, he kicked his legs into the sky and vaulted them behind himself, the awkward movement resulting in a back flip that landed him on his feet. His arms reflexively reached to cover his ribs as his eyes searched for the movement of the staff. As soon as he realized she had not moved to strike him, he returned to his original stance, kicking the left leg back behind him, and chambering the left fist. Hearing the light clang of metal, and feeling the ground shift oddly beneath his feet, he smirked. _Exactly what I wanted. That means the battle tree's…_

Had he been paying attention, he might have noticed the chakra flowing in the area, and may have caught on to what was happening. Instead, Arashi stomped with his back leg, flipping the object that was just barely beneath his foot into the air. A moment later, he reached into the sky, lightly grabbing the hilt of his trusted sword. Looking back to the female ninja that had given him a run for his money thus far, his eyes expressed a surging confidence. _Now that I've got this, you won't touch me…not with that staff._

That's when he noticed. Arashi raised an eyebrow, diverting his eyes from the staff-bearer for a moment as he saw something move in the distance. In that one moment of distraction, he suddenly had 2 hunter ninjas assaulting him, one rushing past him to get behind him while the other slashed at his chest with a kunai in her right hand. With an alert presence of mind, the young hokage dropped his weapon…no sword would really help him against a kunai because the small knife would be too quick. Quickly, he snatched at the extended hand of his enemy, grabbing it and jabbing a pressure point near the wrist with his other hand that forced her hand open. As the kunai dropped to the ground, he quickly pulled her wrist tightly, drawing her further off balance.

Suddenly, the second ninja appeared behind him, and he could feel the air rushing…he could anticipate the move. Almost instantly, he threw his head down, ducking and jerking the captive ninja hand towards himself. As her off-balance form stumbled over his own, a fierce roundhouse kick flew over his back, knocking Arashi's captive directly in the face, her own forward momentum adding to the pain. The girl was thrown from her feet by the force of the kick, and immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke. Arashi, however, didn't notice that as he had turned his attention to the extended foot behind him, quite quickly taking down the kicking ninja and immobilizing her.

As he silently tied her hands behind her, his knee on her back pinning her to the ground, Arashi suddenly felt the molding of chakra. Looking up on a whim, he was greeted with an unexpected sight. Above him, and rapidly plummeting, was the same hunter-nin, yelling with all her might…a great deal of hand seals being formed….

**"Raiton! Denjou Bakuhatsu no jutsu!"***

With yet another fierce yell, the kunoichi fell from the sky, a bright blue light suddenly surrounding her hands. With every bit of force she could muster, she launched her attack, her left fist impacting directly with the face of her adversary. As soon as it did, the jutsu fully activated itself.

From what he had considered a safe distance away, Gai's eyes opened in shock as he watched the girl attack from the sky. It looked like she hit, but as soon as she did…the entire area was engulfed into a massive ball of electricity. Lightning lashed across the Hokage's body, flowing at will from one side of the giant sphere of force to the other. Gai felt his heart beating in fear as he considered the fact that he had seen the third ninja the entire time and had not yelled.

Within the giant ball of electricity, the hunter-nin who had launched the attack disappeared…yet another clone. The 4th's eyes widened in amazement and pain as he saw the clone disappear, and yet another kunoichi smirked at the Yondaime from within the ball of lightning. Arashi was being shocked by the electricity repetitively and had no more control of his muscles than a rag doll. Quickly, she raised her right hand, holding an identical ball of electric force…soon, she socked the Hokage directly in the gut with this one.

The force of the second explosion was fierce, yet well within the ranges that she could control. In fact, the first field actually assisted in the disposal. As the forces finally cleared up a moment later, a ninja stood before a kage, her fists clinched and her breathing hard. Any outsider would have thought that perhaps she had done a suicide move…the sheer force of the attack had been that strong. But she had not been harmed by the attack…only drained. 

For a moment, she wondered if she had succeeded. Yet, could he have missed her actions that much? As she thought this, however, she noticed that the body before her was still in shock…his eyes widely open, muscles tense. Vapors rose from the body of Arashi…._did I cook him?_ He slowly began to melt. _That's my first time connecting with that attack…_Considering it had just been fiercely electrocuted, that wasn't much of a surprise…but…

…it was also changing color. Soon, it was apparent that she had attacked nothing more than a bunch of tar.

_Kawarimi?!?_

-------------------------------- 

About 20 feet away from this chaos, the true adversary stood, watching from a distance, her chakra and mind greatly drained from the amount of concentration and control she had exerted in having her clones perform this battle. She used her bo to keep herself standing while she adjusted to the loss of a large amount of chakra. Peeking her head out from behind a tree, she saw that her best technique had been wasted on a kawarimi. What she didn't see was who stood behind her.

"Perhaps I had you pegged wrong after all…perhaps you really are a Rai-nin. There aren't many non rai-nin who can handle an electric attack like that well. Especially while using kage bunshin and weapons at the same time." The look on Arashi's face no longer held any semblance of amusement. 

The kunoichi turned to the sound of the voice, pinning her back against the tree, and lifting her staff to enter a battle stance. The real Arashi stood about 10 feet from her. Her muscles tensed slightly, and she could feel her legs wanting to give out from her lack of stamina. _Darn…this isn't good. He just got serious…and I…_ She could feel the life draining from her body…the constant chakra drain of maintaining the clones and performing the denjou was beginning to get to her. She knew her limits, and she was normally capable of more. Yet, as her eyes returned to focus upon her adversary, she knew exactly why this battle was ending so soon. _I can't…keep this up…_

Arashi would not make the same mistake twice. "You've shown me one of yours," he spoke as he continued, "now I'll show you one of our skills." Ducking beneath the swing of her staff, Arashi flew across the ground, using his full speed to get in range. _No holding back this time._ Before she even knew what hit her, he had already thrown the knee, bashing her into the tree and plowing upwards into her solar plexus. When he felt her lower ribs snap, he knew she wouldn't be struggling this time, so he didn't hold her in place. He simply kept his knee raised, keeping her still, as he began to form hand seals once more.

The kunoichi gasped for breath, the sharp pain in her gut beyond what she ever expected it to be…she could feel the bones breaking from the force of his knee. _What did I get myself into?_ She jerked her head back, trying to keep her focus on maintaining her chakra levels, but his words drew her back to his eyes. She watched his hands as he slowly formed the seals…or was her mind slowing down? She could hear his voice, almost like an afterthought. "You did well to last this long, but I don't play with offenses like this." She finally began to notice the pattern of seals he was doing…looking into his eyes in panic, she saw it again…the confidence and focused will of Arashi. As she lost control of her chakra and began to slip from consciousness due to the pain, she couldn't help but dwell on that look…

Arashi lightly mumbled the words as he prepared to end this ninja's life. "Katon. Karyuu…." He took a deep breath, blowing hot smoke out of his nose as he stared at the woman. For a moment, he thought he saw her…flicker? It seemed like-just for a moment-her appearance had changed almost completely. Still, he couldn't bother with that. "Endan."* 

Jerking his head back, he took that last inhale, looking downward as he began to lower his head, molding his chakra and preparing to expel the dragon. When he looked down, he saw an entirely different person. So different, in fact, that he nearly expelled the fire dragon anyway. But as he noticed who it was, he quickly turned his head away, holding his breath, and aimed for the forest…

_On second thought…_Not a moment too soon, he turned his head skyward and blew with all his might, unleashing the flames of hell and their dragon, up towards the heavens. With a look of intense confusion, he turned his head back down, and looked at the girl pinned to the tree by his knee. "Nara?!!?" He gasped, as her response was a cough of blood. _Darn it… _"Why?"

As he moved his knee, she quickly fell forward into his arms, her eyes looking up towards him…she couldn't see the confusion on his face but she could tell he was looking back at her. _You've changed…so much…_she couldn't get the words out before she fell into unconsciousness…

------------------------------- 

Quickie Author's Notes: This fic is being done as a compainion fic to Yondaime : The Strength of a Nation. The main two characters of this fiction, Kazama Arashi (the 4th Hokage), and Uzumaki Narashima (OC! W00T) are the same characters from that fiction. Specifically, this chapter picks up on the day before Arashi does his survival training with his group of genin, a bit after he meets them and lets them go for the day...about half-way through Chapter 3 in YSoN.

YSoN dwells on the 4th and his motivation...and also those he's motivated, and it takes a look at the big picture...the years that Arashi ruled. This fiction will dwell more on the happenings of a couple of weeks early in the 4th's leadership role. I intend for this fic to develop the romantic part of the story...that way I can keep YSoN somewhat business-like. It was getting impossible to handle a fic that dwells on a couple of weeks, then jumps forward 5 years or so...so I figured the best way to handle it was to split it up.

**Explanation**  
Battle tree : Rock Lee trains with one of these…you see it in a flash back in episode 50. There may be an actual term for this type of log, but I don't know it.

**Raiton! Denjou Bakuhatsu no jutsu **= Lightning techniques! Electric field explosion technique!  
**Katon Karyuu Endan **= Fire technique...Fire Dragon!!!

As for the jutsu Nara did...Arashi doesn't know a lot about Thunder Village attacks, but the jutsu she just used is meant to be an advanced Jounin level technique. Basically, it creates an intense electric field around the opponent, feeding current into their body. If it hits the chest, the sheer force of the current may be enough to permanently stop the heart. I intend for Nara to be a great warrior in the line of Konoha ninjas...lesser known, but we'll say Sarutobi knew. That way, the name Uzumaki is not a great boon to Naruto, but it's not an insult either. I won't analyze the full palette her skills...I'll let Arashi do that later :)

Please, by all means R&R! I want to know your opinion on everything...the fight scene...my writing in general...my portrayal of the characters...voice your thoughts!


	2. Admiration

**_Valor and Harmony_  
Chapter 2: Admiration**

**_A young, blond-haired child stood smiling before a strong, brown-haired man. The man ruffled the boy's hair playfully. Suddenly, a behemoth of a man attacked from behind, grabbing the brown-haired man and taking him away. The young one yelled into the distance in shock and fear...and eventually depression. "Father…"_**

Eventually, a new man approached in the distance. Another brown-haired one, this one a little older, with strange-looking crinkles around his eyes. He had a young child too. Soon, this one introduced another…and the boy looked in awe at the shirtless, white-haired man. He also looked in curiosity at the book the man was writing…

* * *

Arashi blinked, then frowned. A sigh leaked out of his lips. _Old memories are still trying to take the forefront…_the boy didn't have moments like this often, but seeing his friends hurt and being unable to do anything about it always brought his past back.

**_Arashi had been greatly affected by the Great Ninja Wars. His father raised the boy alone in a somewhat small apartment, but the arrangement was a happy one that neither regretted. Unfortunately, this all changed one day when the shinobi of hidden Stone village attacked Konoha…Kazama Aori sacrificed his life to protect his son from the marauding ninja. As such, the boy was orphaned at an early age, and he was going to be forced out of a home…_**

From this incident came his will to become a ninja…not so much to avenge his father…as to prove himself worthy of his father's sacrifice…in hopes of someday being willing to do the same thing himself for the people he loves. Not only that, but the boy also dreamed of someday being able to do something…that would end the wars. Sarutobi-sensei admired the child's strength in such a tough time, and decided to temporarily pay for the apartment so that the child could remain there. Once the child proved his ability, Jiraiya-sensei took over that payment, taking the kid into his own tutelage.

Since first becoming a ninja, there were few people that Arashi saw more of than Jiraiya-sensei. As a result, he had become very familiar with the man. His perverseness was ignored, but his heart and determination had rubbed off on the young boy. Arashi looked to Jiraiya as a father figure -- albeit an immature one.

Still, it was Jiraiya who had paid for the boy's apartment all those long years when he couldn't afford it on his own. It was Jiraiya who had taught him nearly everything he knew about ninjutsu. The man had withheld little of his own life from the young, eager boy, and Arashi was proud to be considered his student. And as such, it was he who had pulled the boy into the closest thing to a true family Arashi had ever experienced.

The kunoichi of the Sannin, Tsunade, had taken a liking to the boy and was proud to consider him a nephew of sorts. He didn't even think twice about calling her when this situation arose.

Watching her tend to the wounds of the poor girl on his sofa, he couldn't help but be thankful for the kindness she had shown him all these years. She was the first real motherly influence on his life, both in just being there to support him and in nursing his various wounds after missions.

These thoughts ran through the back of his mind, but his primary source of thought for the moment was concern for Uzumaki Narashima. "Tsunade-basan…"

Tsunade smirked a bit, her face turned away from Arashi's vision. His voice was so shaky…it was quite obvious he cared about her a lot. "Don't stress out, boy. You're bothering me." She heard him take a shy step back and nearly burst into laughter, only avoiding doing so because she was currently wrapping the girl's ribs. "You know I'm kidding you…"

Arashi chuckled and replied. "Aunt Tsunade, I don't know when you're kidding or not. You have too many mood swings." He saw her hands freeze in mid-wrapping motion and smirked. "And don't think I'll take that back…you and I both know it's true."

Tsunade didn't respond right away, instead carefully finishing the tight wrapping of the Narashima's ribs. A moment later, she smiled and stood up, turning to face the boy. "There. Anyway, _whatever_ you two were doing out there did a number on her ribs. Everything else is secondary…she used up a ton of chakra, but that will recover with time. Her two lower ribs are broken, and I did some careful work to set them." Arashi nodded.

Tsunade continued on with her assessment of the situation. "She's going to need a few weeks to recover from this completely…and at least a few days off her feet so that the bones have a chance to totally set back into place. Make sure _she _knows that..." She saw the look of concern return to his face as he heard that.

"That's a bit of an issue…tomorrow's--"

"Tomorrow's your team's test, isn't it?" Tsunade smiled, watching the young man nod in reply.

"Yes. My team needs to be tested…and unless they fail, the missions after that…but I certainly don't want to leave her alone here either. I may have to call in a favor…"

Tsunade paused and thought for a moment, then turned toward the young girl, sleeping silently. For a split moment, her mind drifted. _I wonder how these two became friends…she looks like she's about 19. He's only 16…_ "If push comes to shove I suppose I could take care of her."

Arashi looked to his honorary aunt, then shook his head no. "I won't impose on you like that, Tsunade-sama. You have important enough things going on in your life-"

Tsunade raised her voice. "And you don't, _Hokage-sama?_"

He paused for a moment, lifting a finger to his lips and pointing to the sleeping woman. Tsunade paused, and Arashi quietly responded. "She's my friend…I'll find a way to take care of her."

Tsunade looked intently at Arashi, seeing the focus in his eyes and knowing it wouldn't even be worth the time to try to change his opinion anymore. "Ok…if you won't consider me, at least consider the Hyuuga clan. They're nearby, and they have enough tenders to handle an extra person with little trouble."

With that, Tsunade took her bag and prepared to leave, and Arashi opened the door for her. "Thanks very much, aunt Tsunade, for coming on such short notice." Tsunade nodded, and after much talk at the door, eventually the two parted company.

Arashi turned, looking at the girl resting quietly, and knowing she probably would be out for a while based on how much energy she'd used against him. Speaking of which… "Ugh…I gotta get food _now…"

* * *

_

Indeed, even the greatest of ninja warriors could be turned into a total weakling if left without food for too long. Ichiraku Yorui looked onward as - of all people - the fourth Hokage stumbled into his place, looking half-exhausted. "Fancy seeing you here," the old shop owner joked. Arashi had been one of his most frequent customers. "And fancy seeing you like this…"

Arashi chuckled. "Yeah…I…" He caught his tongue, realizing he was this close to blabbing out something he wasn't ready to tell people…that he had a run in with an old friend. "I kinda went overboard on my training earlier. Every now and then I forget my own limits…so then I have to set them further."

The old man laughed loudly at the joking comments of Arashi. "Well whatever…I'll give you double whatever you pay for just this once. Eat well and get back to full strength as soon as possible, Yondaime." Arashi bowed politely to the kind elderly owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Shop…it seemed today would be an interesting day.

"Okay then…4 bowls of shrimp ramen…and 4 of miso! To go!" Arashi chuckled as the shop owner's mouth dropped.

"You're not gonna eat all that! Trying to break me? The only person who eats that much is…"

"Uzumaki Narashima…who is staying with me tonight and needs to have food."

Yorui looked carefully at the Fourth…searching his eyes for any hint of a lie. Finding none, he pondered the reason…his thoughts, however, were interrupted. "I understand if you don't want to keep that offer. I'll be happy to pay for it. This was my intention before you ever brought that up."

The old man thought for a moment, then returned a genuine smile. "Nah…I won't go back on my word. In fact…on the house! Just don't tell anyone else I did that." Arashi slimed slyly and gave his word not to spread the news.

As he walked out, he yelled "Yorui is a softy!" as loud as he could, then ran for dear life.

* * *

**500…501…502**…the rug ruffled lightly beneath the legs of Kazama Arashi as he adjusted his position slightly. He lay on all fours on the wooden floor, keeping a set pace as he continued to do his pushups. On the sofa near him lay Nara-chan…on the table in front of her lay two finished helpings of ramen. Hers, however, were in the fridge since she had never awoken. What had begun for Arashi as silently waiting for Nara to wake up had eventually proceeded to quietly carrying on with the rest of his originally planned night routine. 

Arashi silently did his push-ups, his mind attempting to plan out the perfectly cool, yet difficult test he wished to give to his students the next day. _I need something that would be enjoyable if they do well…that would allow for teamwork to be an advantage…and that would require a bit of thought in order to have success._ Having never planned one of these before, he was having a significantly larger amount of trouble coming up with an adequate test than he had expected.

_Darn my arms are burning_, he thought. He began to regret saying he'd keep doing push-ups until he finished planning the test. **509…**

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

Sometime after he'd gotten his plans for the next day, and eaten another bowl of ramen, he'd suspected she might not have the strength to wake up that night. Quickly, he showered and began to cool down and prepare for bed. As soon as he re-entered the room after his shower, he heard what seemed to be a belabored and pained moan from the living area.

With a start, Arashi jogged over to the wounded girl, and watched her quietly. Slowly, her eyes seemed to notice his presence and focus upon him. Eventually, she found her vocal cords.

"….wh….where?"

Arashi smiled just slightly, glad to know she was still coherent after all that had happened. "You're at my place. Don't…"

Nara snapped up into a sitting position as best she could, ignoring the extra resistance she was getting. _His place? Why…_The thought got lost in immense pain as she quickly slumped back into a prone position. She gasped hard, but refused to yell.

"Don't move…" Arashi continued. "Your bottom two ribs are broken, and they've been set so that you couldn't…just do that. I guess Tsunade underestimated your will power…"

_Broken ribs?_ With a flood of emotion, the day's events suddenly flew back into Nara's mind. Arashi watched slowly as her expressions changed…pain, regret, disappointment…she suddenly seemed a lot less lively than she had a moment before. Recognizing it for what it was, Arashi decided to take that moment to go complete the dishes. Nara just lay there, lost in thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her silently lie there while he washed the dishes. After washing them and drying them as well, he felt the thoughts swimming in his mind, trying to find some legitimate reason for what had happened earlier that day.

_What could she possibly have been doing? Was she really trying to kill me…a spy? Or was this a joke…a sick joke gone wrong? What could be the meaning of this?_

Her silence was driving his mind to jump to conclusions. It had been 15 minutes since she'd first awoken, and the look on her face let him know she was having no easier time dealing with what had happened than he was. Eventually, it grated on his sanity, and he just couldn't avoid asking anymore. "Nara, I hate to ask this so soon after you've awoken, but I have to know...and I've never been good at small talk when something's on my mind." He saw her eyes lift up to look into his own. "What…the heck…happened today…and _why_?" Immediately, her eyes jerked away from his, seemingly in shame.

After a moment of what Arashi considered shaky breathing, he watched her try to contain herself. As she finally spoke, her voice came through loud and clear. "I had to prove something…to myself."

Arashi responded, a bit confused and a bit edgy. "So you fought me…without telling me anything…making me think you were from another village…"

She cut him off, replying…"You wouldn't have fought me seriously any other way and you know it."

Arashi paused, considering the meaning of her words just now. His voice expressed his curiosity and confusion. "So you wanted me at my best to judge yourself against…and you were willing to risk death to do it right…"

She frowned. "I was willing to risk death to prove my point…but I was under par."

Arashi listened, and noticed her silence after those last words. Taking a moment, he sat down at the chair next to the sofa, right by her head rest. "Under par? What ridiculously high standard do you have set for yourself? Do you realize what all you did today?" As he saw her gaze out into nowhere, Arashi pointed his index finger out, pinning his other index finger over it as he began to count off things.

"First, you had a fight with a Hokage. Even if it's just me, that's still a big thing." He flicked his middle finger out, pinning it down too. "Then, you used 10 kage bunshins…and you gave them enough chakra to perform their own techniques…beyond the normal bunshin and imitation. I've never seen a clone of any sort perform a Jounin-level technique of its own."

"THEN, you had your clones attack in conjunction, using weapons, teleports, and lightning attacks. Oh yeah, did I mention you did the entire thing while imitating the form of a rai-hunter nin? And making each and every clone constantly mimic the form too? All that…"

Nara could feel herself blushing as he continued to rant on her. "I don't even understand how you did half of that stuff…how in the world did you make a bunshin-kage or not-that could take a few licks…."

Nara smiled just slightly, then replied. "I found a way to control it…so that pouring more chakra into the jutsu doesn't just automatically multiply the number of clones you make. This way, I can make each clone have more chakra….quality clones instead of quantity."

Arashi just sat there listening. _She's talking about how much crap she is, after showing that much chakra control. Re-freaking-diculous_. After a moment of silence, he finally replied. "There are only a handful of ninjas that could even do that much, Nara…you did it while fighting a Hokage in what could have been a death match…while cloaking yourself and managing weapons and lightning attacks. THAT'S AMAZING…I can't think of too many folks who have more to brag about than you today. I know I couldn't have done nearly that much."

Nara looked up at him incredulously. "What about you? I never even laid a hand on you…with 10 clones and a bunch of super attacks, the most I was ever able to do was leg sweep you for a split second…nothing else I did even hit you. _You totally dominated me…"_

Arashi didn't know what to say, but he could hear in her voice that she still wasn't proud of herself. "Most people I would have fought in that situation…would have ended up dead inside of 2 minutes. You survived the whole match, and if not for the fact that the clone beneath my foot let go of me, you might have even killed _me_. Why are you so down on yourself?"

Narashima's every instinct took over, and she yelled out "**Because I'm not most people! I've always been BETTER than...**" Immediately, she got silent, knowing she was about to say something far too bold and not at all true anymore.

The silence he heard from his friend was quite unsettling. Arashi took a walk to the window, taking a look out. After a moment, he heard her soft reply, almost as if she were saying it to herself. "I…I've always been…better than you…or at least I always kept believing I was. You might have been great with jutsus, and even taught me some…but no matter how hard you tried, you were no leader. You just didn't have the confidence in yourself to stand tall. I could never be worse than someone like that, no matter how much he excelled. I always stood tall on that, no matter how far I fell behind you physically."

Arashi didn't move or reply, waiting to see if she would say more. He was rewarded. "But then…all of a sudden all of that flipped. You became not _just_ a leader, but the Hokage. The guy I'd spent half of my life calling a coward became Hokage. How could I accept that?" Arashi turned back to face her, his shadow blocking the light of the setting sun from her eyes. "If I couldn't beat you…the coward…then I didn't deserve to be a ninja. If I couldn't stand in the face of a coward and make him back off, then what kind of a warrior am I? Not only that, but if you were still a coward, you…" Her voice broke.

Suddenly, Arashi began to understand, ever so slightly, why she had done what she'd done. It was a proving ground…for both of them. She'd wanted to prove her own superiority to him…and convince him that he wasn't ready for Hokage. He could hear her sobbing lightly, and his concern for her made him suspect that crying certainly wasn't a _help_ to her ribs. "I understand, Nara. If I wasn't ready to be Hokage, you wanted me to know it. And you wanted acknowledgement. It's ok…I acknowledge you."

"Arashi…I'm sorry. For so long, I've set you up as a bad guy. As the evil rival I needed to motivate myself against…so that I could grow stronger. You becoming Hokage meant I could never surpass you…and I had to know if you had earned it, or if it was just because the "child prodigy" had come of age…"

Arashi frowned slightly; that whole 'prodigy' term never quite agreed with him, especially from her. "Don't say anymore. Get your rest."

Nara's voice began to break as the pain from her ribs and her thoughts combined…"You showed me…you showed me my own cowardice…my hypocrisy--" Her broken voice was cut off suddenly when she felt a light touch on her hand. Turning her head on the couch, she turned to see a strong hand wrapped firmly around her own. Looking up into the eyes of Arashi--tears glistening in her own--she felt so out of place.

Arashi smiled brightly back to her, putting a finger over her lips and telling her to shush. Cheerfully, he spoke to her, his smile unwavering. "It's been forgiven…drop it."

If there was anything difficult for Nara to do, it was to drop something unfinished, especially when it involved her own self-bashing. But, something in the look on his face just…made her comply. Nara smiled back to him, reaching up to his hand and rubbing a finger against his rough skin. A moment later, her heavy eyelids closed on her.

Arashi held her hand a moment longer, then pulled the covers up around her. "You're a lot cooler than you think, Nara-chan…"

-----End Chapter-----

* * *

It's funny writing two stories...that intertwine...and attempting to get to the point where you can alternate stories and keep going in combined chronological order...yeah I screwed that up a long time ago. But at this point, this story's actually close to catching up again. 

Sorry for the semi-lackluster chapter...started the fic off with a big fight scene...but really this is going to be a romance fic, so expect a lot of talking and a lot less action than the first chapter. Especially considering one of the main characters is highly incapacitated for the moment.

It's a 3-day weekend! YEAH MEMORIAL DAY! I'll probably get more out today...maybe the rest of SoaN Chapter 4...but we'll see.


	3. Respect

_From the Yondaime Story Arc:_

**_Valor and Harmony_  
Chapter 3: Respect**

He was in awe of the moment.

As he opened his eyes, the brightness and vividness of the scene before him brought tears to his eyes. In the distance in all directions, he could see towering trees, strong and beautiful. Yet, from the sun in his eyes, he could tell that the clearing he sat in was vast. Before him—indeed, all around him—lay a brilliant field full of flowers. Deep, red roses…blue and yellow tulips, purple lilacs, golden sunflowers, small white daffodils…distributed among the wonderful green grass. The wind tossed the grass about with a gentile breeze, ruffling the man's hair. He smiled. It reminded him of them all.

The moment got the better of him as a sly smile crossed his face, and soon the man was rolling across the gentle hills, staining his white shirt…as he came to a stop, back flat against the ground, a stunningly-beautiful woman looked down at him from above…holding a very familiar looking boy…the man smiled again as the child reached out his hand towards him…

Suddenly, the wind went away, and everything was dark.

* * *

Slowly, confusion washed away and he realized what had happened. _What a shame…it was such a beautiful dream. _Sitting up slowly in his bed, he reached behind him to scratch his gray hair, and then carefully slid out of the bed and into his sandals. A moment later he walked into the kitchen, preparing to fix himself a cup of tea. 

The house was dark, yet he moved as if he had no trouble seeing in the darkness…indeed, he didn't have trouble seeing at all. Getting up at 4 in the morning every day for many, many years had the adverse effect of making his night vision quite clear. Even in old age, he had no trouble…

_That dream, _he thought, his analytical side not letting him drop it. _It reminds me of the people. The elderly trees in the background, watching over everything…and the vividly different children, each with a different smell and beauty…yes…they are very much like a field of flowers._

His daydream…if you could even call it day yet, was suddenly interrupted. A heavy pounding on his front door startled him, and slowly he made his way to the front. "Be patient…or you'll wake the neighbors," he joked.

As he opened the door, he heard the reply… "You mean the guards? They SHOULD be awake, don't you think?"

The grey-haired man raised an eyebrow. The fellow on the other side of the door was clad in the garb of a ninja prepared for combat…a large green, sleeveless vest covered his shoulders, and long navy blue fleece sleeves covered the warrior's folded arms. On the right shoulder of the sleeves lay an insignia…a red spiral, outlined in black.

Eyes wide in surprise, the old man tilted his head up a bit and looked the ninja in the face…noting his spiky blond hair. "Yondaime-dono?"

Before him stood the one known as Arashi, once a young prodigy of the hidden ninja village of Konoha, and now its specially handpicked 4th leader. Arashi nodded. "I know you're probably wondering what brought me here so early…Sarutobi-dono."

It was not often in recent times that the 3rd Hokage…the one who had done said handpicking…was visited by anyone…especially in the early morning hours. During his time leading the village, even his guards knew that he enjoyed spending this time alone, reflecting on life, or training by himself. So, as Arashi expected, it was quite a surprise to him to be visited this early. _I haven't even had my tea yet…_

It suddenly dawned on him that he had a special guest, and he was not treating him specially. "That can wait. Come inside, and get some coffee."

* * *

"So, what does bring you here, Arashi?" 

Sarutobi made his way over to his seat near the small coffee table, handing the 4th Hokage a cup of freshly brewed coffee. He himself was having tea…he didn't need more caffeine. As he took a sip and began to savor the flavor and warmth, Saru quickly diverted his attention back to Arashi at the sound of the young man's voice.

"Today, it begins. It's time for my team to be tested."

The old man opened his mouth in surprise for a moment. "I see…that would explain the combat gear. Not that you need it…"

"I'd rather be safe than sorry. After all, I do have to deal with Kakashi-kun."

"Hmm…" Sarutobi nodded, recognizing what he meant. In his youth, Saru remembered, he had underestimated his team in their survival tests…the result was the beginning of the legend of the 3 Konoha sennin…known to most simply as "the Sannin". "Yes. I agree that it's best to be careful. Don't underestimate the others either."

The young man nodded, and Sarutobi took another sip of his tea. After a moment to swallow, the 3rd raised an eyebrow and asked again. "I'm sure you can handle that, however, so what brings you _here_?"

As young as the boy was, Arashi bent his head down and took a contemplating gaze at the floor…one which made him look about 40. Sarutobi noticed his wrinkled brow, and suddenly recognized the seriousness that this issue – whatever it was – had fostered. Immediately, he put down his teacup with a clank, and turned his attention fully to Arashi.

Arashi weighed the options quite quickly. _There is no reason not to trust Sandaime. And…I need to tell someone, and get this weight off my chest. _Slowly, he raised his head, and made eye contact with the focused eyes of his former lord. "Sandaime…I have a huge problem…"

Sandaime responded with a nod, encouraging the boy to go ahead. Arashi licked his lips quickly, then continued on. "Saru-dono…yesterday, I was attacked." He saw the elder man's facial expression change from curiosity to surprise. "I was training on the personal grounds, when a hunter-nin hailing from Hidden Thunder ambushed me."

The 3rd looked carefully at Arashi as the boy continued. _Odd…he doesn't seem to be physically wounded…_

"Luckily, they underestimated me…they came one successful attack away from possibly injuring me permanently. Instead, I managed to counter and broke 3 or 4 of the fighter's ribs. Then…I prepared a point-blank grand fireball…"

Sandaime frowned. _That would mean there's no evidence left…nothing to figure out who did it or why…_his analytical brain was already calculating what the problem more than likely was, and how to fix it. But one thing tripped him up…

"How did this hunter-nin get past the ANBU guards without alerting you?"

Arashi chuckled. "We think the same way, Saru…I couldn't figure that out either. I _knew_ I sent _you_ the lazy guards…"

Both of them burst into laughter, and it took a few moments for the somber and serious attitude to return to the 3rd. And yet, it did. Assassination attempts tended to do that.

"So you need help in accessing the situation…about whether the ninja was acting alone…"

Arashi shook his head. "Nope. That's already been figured out. The ninja gave that away when he doubted whether his Hokage was female…"

Sarutobi eyed Arashi in slight confusion. _But…Thunder Village doesn't…._

Arashi continued. "…or not…"

Sarutobi caught the craftiness. "I see…" A smile crossed his face… the boy had once again reinforced the 3rd's confidence in him. Suddenly, confusion took reign again. "Then…what…?"

Arashi frowned a bit more. "The ninja wasn't even Thunder."

A silent pause. Suddenly, Sarutobi began to get a feeling that this was worse than he thought…

"The ninja was Konoha."

Saru frowned intensely. Betrayal from within was the one thing he never expected to hear that morning. "Who."

Arashi took a big breath, dreading this moment.

"Uzumaki Narashima."

Sarutobi closed his eyes tightly, wrinkles spreading across his brow. _This morning has brought sadness with it…I wish I'd stayed dreaming. _"Narashima…Arashi-dono…wasn't she your friend?"

Arashi nodded. "Yes…since before I became a ninja. Yet she says she's no spy and I believe her."

Saru paused once more; his next thought had been derailed. "Then…"

Arashi sighed…_the story's almost done. _"In the battle, she lost nearly all her chakra, and I broke her ribs…I've been taking care of her at my place with Tsunade's help. The issue is, today is the day my team begins their training…and if they succeed…there will be missions after that…"

Sarutobi figured now he knew where this was going. "You're looking for a sitter...have you checked with the Hyuuga? One extra person there wouldn't make much difference…"

Arashi shook his head. "That's because they only tend to the body. Nara's a tough girl…she's not going to let anyone pamper her."

Saru watched as Arashi stood from the table. The boy continued. "What she needs is someone to talk to, so she doesn't go mad with guilt or anything."

It took a moment of thought for Saru to word his question properly. "Why do you think I'm close enough to her to supply that conversation? I know her on paper…and from you."

Arashi smiled and replied…"Whether you know her doesn't matter…it's whether you know _me._"

This time, Sarutobi read beneath the lines well. "Sou ka…sou ka…tell me more."

* * *

It was hopeless…no matter how she tried she couldn't ignore it. There would be no going back to sleep. 

Uzumaki Narashima cursed her own idiocy for not closing the blinds to her place last night. Yet, as she drowsily opened her eyes toward the rising sun, she soon remembered that her bedroom didn't have a window facing east. A nagging pain around her waist (along with the feel of the leather couch beneath her) reminded her of the situation…_Arashi's place…_

Nara sighed for a moment, attempting to piece together what limited information she could gather. The house was silent…meaning Arashi wasn't home. Based on the positioning of the sun, she'd guess it was around 10 in the morning. As the beginning of a deep yawn washed over her, she was quite surprised by just how stiff her body felt.

She couldn't quite properly yawn…her wrappings were really tight. Once that involuntary action passed, however, another voluntary action threatened to become involuntary. _Oh great…_her typical morning pattern would end up quite modified today, it seemed. Nara's face twisted in alert and concern as she wondered how exactly…she'd get to the bathroom…when yesterday she'd barely been able to sit up at all…

Slowly, and with no small amount of pain, she rolled herself closer to the edge of the couch. Even that took a lot out of her, she noticed, and she took a moment's rest. _Maybe it's because I just woke up, _she thought, _but I feel so drained…_unfortunately, her bladder reminded her, she didn't have all day.

Lacking other options, she rolled herself off the couch and onto the floor, being careful to extend her arms and shield her ribs from the impact. She landed in a military style push-up position, with her arms bent and her body nearly touching the ground. After a moment's thought (and another desperate reminder from her bladder), she attempted to perform a push up, but her arms quivered and gave out, leaving her flat faced on the floor. She yelled in surprise before face faulting onto the carpet.

She grimaced…now she had multiple pains once more…making every effort to ignore them all, she focused instead on her bladder's incessant demands. Using her hands and her feet as best she could, she dragged herself across the carpet, gasping and grunting aloud at the pain it caused her. Yet, she slowly got the hang of it and began to gain speed. Still, she was quickly learning how often she used her torso muscles…_Darn that boy…leaving me here alone…if I pee myself I'll kill him…and who in the hell tied these wrappings?_

Nara had made it about half way to the bathroom door when she heard a footstep on the carpet behind her. Making half an effort to crane her neck in the intruder's direction, she spotted the black goatee, and the crinkled eyes that looked almost art-like. An authoritative voice boomed towards her.

"What in the _world _are you doing?"

She continued to inch her way across the floor…"Bath…room…"

Admittedly, she hadn't really cared who the fellow was…he was just a hindrance no matter who he might be. Yet, when she heard the man giggle, she really raised an eyebrow. "I see…I see…let me help." A moment later, the man leaned down and scooped her up. Wrapping her right arm around his own neck, the man steadied her body.

Tilting her head towards the fellow that had just lifted her from the floor and placed her feet on ground, she spotted the exact man she expected: Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi. The two took slow steps towards the restroom in silence.

A few minutes later, a fairly weakened Nara sat on the couch-turned-bed, her wrappings loosened just enough for her to bend a bit as necessary, and a large bowl of ramen in front of her. Her back was pinned against a stack of pillows so that she could sit up just a bit to eat. Not too far away in the kitchen, Sarutobi stood, washing a bowl while watching her. He chuckled…"It seems Arashi was right about you being tough. Not many would have been able to drag themselves across the floor through the pain like that. " With a grab of his goatee and a slight tug of curiosity, he continued, "A scary man, that one…he also predicted when you'd get up."

She frowned. "It's not hard to predict when the sun hits the eyes of someone sitting on the couch when it's your house you're doing the predicting for."

"True. True." Sarutobi smiled again. "Still, I find it odd that he'd even bother to figure that out. He could have told me to come at 9 or so…instead he said you'd wake up at 10:20 and not to come too much earlier."

"Hmph. That just shows he kept the blinds open on purpose to be right."

Sarutobi chuckled at her skepticism, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Sou ka…I apologize for not making it here sooner. I might have been able to save you some trouble."

The girl shook her head. "No big deal. Since you're here though…"

Sarutobi nodded. "There is some work I need to do on you…Tsunade wrapped you up like this so that you wouldn't attempt to be bold and hurt yourself further…" He raised a slight eyebrow as he noticed frustration wash over her face at the mention of her current situation, but continued his talk as though nothing had happened. "…but this isn't actually helping you heal any. IF you promise not to be reckless, I can loosen those bandages, and we can do some exercises to help."

Nara made eye contact with him, skeptically scanning his expression for some sign of his motives…the 3rd remained still and calm, and she couldn't read much of anything from his face. _Of course, _she thought, _this is a man who has to give ultimatums to entire villages of shinobi…why did I expect to read him? _After a moment, she silently nodded.

Sarutobi held back a chuckle, noticing the look on her face. _Oh dear…I wonder if she knows…after all she is good friends with Arashi, and he was trained by Jiraiya. But then again…I just can't see him randomly talking about my…ecchiness…_

"Good then. Before we begin, I want you to take one deep breath with the bandages on." She stared at him for a moment, but after a bit more coaxing, she closed her eyes and began to draw in air. Sarutobi watched closely as her chest slowly rose, and struggled against himself to stop the redness in his face from showing…

It wasn't too long into the action, however, that she winced. Saru looked to the bandages, not quite taut around her waist and torso. _As I thought…she's having trouble breathing. Tsunade needs to be more careful with her bandage tying…she forgets her own strength. _"Ok then…we're going to do some breathing exercises first to help that pain..."

* * *

So passed a fairly uneventful morning. Sarutobi had Nara hug a pillow to her chest and take the deepest breaths she could…she needed to exercise her lungs more or else the stagnant air within them from repeated shallow breaths might cause pneumonia. He told her to do that exercise at least 5 minutes every day until she was better. After that, he got some ice and had her keep it on for 10 minutes every hour in order to keep the swelling and pain down. 

Sarutobi smiled when she asked him where he learned all these things. "Practice. I've had many broken ribs myself."

After removing the bandaging and checking for the extent of the damage with a steady index finger, Nara winced. Sarutobi frowned. "Excuse me. These old hands are not as steady as they once were."

"When you were younger, were you trained as a medical specialist?"

Sarutobi shook his head as he began to rewrap her bandages. "In my youth, there was no such thing as a medical specialist. Yet, when Nidaime got sick of nursing the wounds of my team personally, he taught us how to care for each other's common injuries. I may not be as good as Tsunade at it, but I _did _teach her the majority of what she knows. Yet, she used chakra manipulation to further her medical skills beyond my own." Nara nodded…she knew that Orochimaru and Jiraiya were products of the 3rd's talent, but she had never considered the idea that Tsunade might have learned her medical skills from him.

"Incredible…you've trained some amazing ninjas in your time…"

Sarutobi paused for a moment. "I only developed the skills and talents that they already had…it was their drive to keep listening that made them amazing."

The pregnant pause continued, and then Sarutobi went back to wrapping. Nara winced as he slid the bandage beneath her, then wrapped it around her front again. "How do you see talent so well?"

Saru smiled lightly, recognizing the question she asked as well as the one she really wanted to ask. "Well…I don't always. I trained the Sannin for years before I recognized how useful Jiraiya's talents really were and worked with him. Sometimes I notice myself, but often I need help from others to point out how great someone really is." He thought for a moment, then continued. "That's how it was with Arashi."

Immediately, he saw her expression change…he'd definitely piqued her curiosity. "What do you mean? Who'd you ask about him?"

"Well…okay. I'll tell the whole story. Jiraiya cursed me for years for assigning him a student that was nothing like himself. This kid, he said, was alert to his every action, and was quite annoyed by most of them. The kid was quite serious for his age, and he hated Jiraiya's…"

Nara grabbed Sarutobi's hand and looked at him with a death glare. Startled, the old man looked down at her, and noticed that he'd unconsciously started wrapping the bandage higher, veering his hands towards her chest. Eventually, he drug his eyes up her body, and his eyes locked with hers. "I'm **_well_** aware of what Arashi hated about Jiraiya…"

Sarutobi blushed. _So it does get out. I better watch myself. _Saru coughed, then shook his head and continued. "Anyway, that was the majority of what I'd hear from Jiraiya, so I didn't really know how well the boy was doing until he became a chuunin. At that point, Jiraiya recommended that Arashi get away from him and get trained as a normal chuunin would. He said that Arashi was already ahead of the game, and that I should give him a good B rank mission to lead. Considering a chuunin normally starts with C ranks, this was a surprise…especially since he was telling me the boy should lead the mission. I gave him a strong C rank instead."

"Anyway, I continued to give him missions until he got to the point of showing some real confidence in his decisions, and then Jiraiya decided he wanted the boy back…"

"I remember that…he'd disappear for months…"

"Yes…but I made Jiraiya agree to bring him back so that he could do missions now and again. I trusted Jiraiya's judgment in this category, and I knew the boy would be fine. But, I never really got to see him in action. Even when he took the Jounin exams, I wasn't there…I probably never would have noticed his abilities if not for one thing."

He paused, completing the last of her bandaging and whipping out a pair of scissors to cut the end of the tape he had applied to hold the bandages. Nara waited patiently for approximately 3 seconds and then… "AND?!"

"Well, something I'd been doing for a long time paid off. My entire time as Hokage, I've tried to keep track of everyone, but it's quite difficult. This village is too large for me to personally see everyone's improvement, let alone build a personal relationship with them all. So to a point, I have to rely on the other leaders to pay attention to their followers. Every 2 months or so, I send forms to each of the ANBU Commanders and coordinators, as well as all the Jounin teaching students, and ask them to detail the progress they've seen in those around them. I also ask them if they see anyone who's gone further than expected. I'd even ask the new Jounin after exams 'Is there anyone out there that you're surprised **isn't** a Jounin yet?' I'd been doing that even when I still had a team to train…and every now and then a name would come up I'd heard nothing of before, so I'd check it out."

Sarutobi looked up to the ceiling in thought. "The weird thing, though…was that all of a sudden I read a wave of them about Arashi. He had just recently joined the ANBU, and that was where the most careful evaluations were being done. I remember that well…Katsuhime Narobo, the newly appointed ANBU Captain, sent word to me directly—separate from the forms even—about this new recruit they had who was very quickly showing talent they had never seen. He mentioned that it wouldn't be long before this guy _was_ an ANBU captain, and that I should get to know him. I looked at the name, and realized this was Jiraiya's student…so I looked over the backlog of info I hadn't really sorted. I had looked at the evaluation leaders had given of him pretty thoroughly at that point, but I suddenly realized I'd never bothered to look at his subordinates' evaluation of him."

Nara looked slightly confused at him. "His subordinates? When did he get a genin team?"

Saru shook his head. "No no…not those type of subordinates…the people who teamed up with him on one time missions where he was the lead…in other words most of his chuunin days. I knew the missions were successes, but I'd never looked into what Jiraiya had taught him, or into his character until I read these things. Peers are an excellent source of information about a good leader."

"Anyway, once I had read so many good things about him from so many different people, my curiosity was too much for me to ignore it. I quickly made an excursion to the ANBU Headquarters and asked for him by name, and had a good chat with him. I eventually confirmed what everyone had said…though young, Arashi is a calm and good-natured man, amazingly good at just about everything he does…I was quite impressed. He was not only a Jiraiya-engineered walking battle tank, but he was quite humble, and he loves his friends greatly."

Nara looked down at her bandages silently for a moment before opening her mouth. "So…he basically gained the approval of every person he ever worked with…"

"That pretty much sums it up. When I gave him ANBU Command, it was reported to me that he was perhaps the most intelligent and alert leader the ANBU could ever ask for, but that he enjoyed being a helper to Katsuhime and had no real desire to become the Captain of the ANBU. That surprised me, but it only made me all the more aware of how great he really was…no ambition or selfish pride was clouding his mind…he thought strictly of the best for the whole. When it became time to choose a new _kage_, that definitely stuck in my head as an amazing trait. I--"

Nara frowned. "Even with his lack of confidence?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about there…"

Nara looked at him oddly. "He's not humble…he just doesn't believe in himself the way he needs to…he wavers and he's uncertain…"

Saru frowned a bit. "Maybe he lacked confidence at first, but he very quickly learned to trust his own judgment, and he definitely gained confidence as a ninja. He took on missions that I probably would have given no one else the opportunity to lead, other than the Sannin…and he performed them excellently…making solid decisions on the fly, and coordinating ninjas in life-or-death situations without error." _Heh…perhaps this lack of self-confidence is ONLY in situations dealing with her…but I'm not going to bring that up…_

Sarutobi could talk all day on how awesome the 4th was, he realized, but as he looked back into Narashima's eyes, he noticed something he had not before. _She's dejected…did Arashi not tell me the whole story here? _He paused, and blinked for a moment, and suddenly it dawned on him. _I see…there's more than one issue to this. She may have attacked him because she wasn't sure in his ability to lead, but it had more to do with her lack of confidence in herself…_

"You know, the other thing that really amazed me is how he reacted when I asked him who deserves more credit. I honestly expected him to say Jiraiya…"

Nara looked up.

"But…he hardly ever talked to me about anyone other than you."

Confusion crossed her face as she looked into his eyes. "What?"

"I'm serious…he mentioned that he'd never seen you fight seriously yet, but that he knew that if push came to shove you would never falter. It was the strangest evaluation I'd ever gotten…a vote of confidence from a man who had yet to truly see the whole of what he was evaluating. But his confidence in you was that strong. He told me about the stuff you'd done together before, and that he could see where those traits you showed him would make you a great leader someday. He even went as far as to recommend that you stay in the field when I was considering sending you down the ANBU training route."

Nara's cheeks were reddening as she heard Saru speak, and he quickly diverted his eyes as soon as he noticed it. _How cute…_

"After the Jounin Exams, when I asked him about who he thought should have been a Jounin already, your name came up…he knew you had a cold and were apprehensive about taking it while sick, but he was surprised you hadn't come up before that."

Red.

"He talked to the Jounin in the examinations that tested you, and he didn't leave them alone until they gave their personal opinions of your skills…"

Redder still.

"And then, when I invited him to my office, he dug through the file on himself for a bit, but then asked for your file, and dug up those Jounin's reports and put them in your file…"

Cherry red.

"He told me, 'I'm going to keep speaking on her behalf…because she's probably not going to speak for herself on this issue.'"

Marroon.

Sarutobi chuckled, sneaking a peek back down at her face as it became beet red. "I should apologize…I never really followed up on that entirely, although I did give you tougher missions. At that point, I really didn't have the time to get to know anyone better, but I should have invited you to join us on our little chats." He paused, noticing that she was beet red, and continued with less bravado. "He really saw you as greater than himself…and though that says quite a bit about his humility, it also says a ton about you. I know that he is a great reader of talent…much like Jiraiya. He wouldn't have pushed that hard for just anyone…"

Nara looked up to Saru, tears glistening in her eyes, but no words escaped her lips. Saru smiled down to her. "I'm sorry…I've said too much…but it's all true. He cares about you a lot, and he sees you as his equal."

Nara looked back to him, and shook her head no. "I'm not his equal…he's far beyond me."

Saru replied, his deep voice somehow carrying very softly to her ears… "Based on what he told me of the fight, he doesn't see it that way…nor do I." Nara began to cry whole-heartedly, and Saru continued. "You are a shinobi of Konoha, and indeed one of the greatest within the boundaries of Fire Country. Don't underestimate yourself…no one else does."

Sarutobi couldn't think of much more to say, but Nara's crying eventually calmed down. Sarutobi considered the situation fully. _Ironic…it would seem Arashi had more confidence in her than she had in herself…or he had in himself for that matter._

She turned and buried her face into the pillow, wiping her tears, and Sarutobi watched as she lulled into sleep a moment later. _I wish I could help her more…but all I can do is tend to her now.

* * *

_

Consciousness hit like an iron over the head…but for some reason Uzumaki Narashima could not seem to open her eyelids. _I feel weak…really weak…but why? _In response, her brain sent reminders of her injuries, and the past 24 hours of sleeping and crying and talking…and she decided to keep her eyes closed. She could hear the clank of dishes in the distance, and she strained slightly to attempt to hear other things…suddenly, she became aware of her nose…as the smell of shrimp entered…

* * *

Sarutobi sat down lightly in the rocking chair he had brought over to the Fourth's place, watching over the sickly girl. He'd just clanked down a bowl of steaming hot shrimp ramen on the table near the sofa where she lay. _Arashi told me not to warm it too hot, but I didn't pay attention to how strong his stove was…oh well...it's better hot anyway. Besides…by the time she wakes up…_

A low moan suddenly turned into an zombie-like growl as Nara awoke and pulled her self into a sitting position, once again resisting the bandages. The pain from the movement made it very jerky…as though it were being filmed by a video camera that took pictures irregularly…one moment she's here, then suddenly halfway up, then sitting up entirely. Her eyes were wide with intensity as something within her willed her body to ignore the pain. With a slow tilt of her head, she saw the bowl of ramen on the table…and Sarutobi noticed the intense look in her eyes...

_Aww crap. _"No! Don't!"

Too late. Narashima drew her fangs, jerkily grabbed the bowl of ramen, and robotically turned it nearly upside down, guzzling the hot grub down like a wild animal, and swallowing too quickly for nerves to register pain. Finally, at the last mouthful, her brain caught up with her instincts…"Gork…wha…HA! HOT!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

Sarutobi watched in jaw-dropped silence as the girl yelled at the top of her lungs, bolting to her feet and zombie-running her way into the kitchen, disconnectedly turning her head beneath the faucet and running water into her mouth…

A moment later, he heard the water turn off, a body fall, and turned and looked as she drug herself back to the sofa, and climbed up completely on her own. Smoke bellowed from her open mouth, and her face was covered with sweat…Saru shook his head for a moment…

A gruff voice could be heard, half dead…

"Fix another one…same temperature…"

Sarutobi face-faulted out of his seat and onto the floor.

"Hurry…"

"Girl…what are you made of…"

"Jii-san (old man)…hurry…" Nara jerkily turned her head toward him, her teeth looking like jagged wolf fangs...

-sweatdrop-

* * *

Oh my goodness it's an update! WHOA!  
Yeah I kinda went crazy with school work and friends and stuff, and I didn't have any time to give to this. Admittingly, most of this was written a long time ago, but I had to write some conclusion stuff and clean it up...I still haven't cleaned it up yet but I've got a concert to perform in soon...so I'll go on ahead and post it anyway. Hope there aren't too many typos....or logic gaps cringe and hopefully you like the crack-induced ending that popped into my head randomly an hour or so ago. 

Holidays are coming up, and that'll probably mean I'll get back to updating more often...I'll probably continue with V&H more before doing any more of SoaN.

Reviews, as always, are welcome.


	4. Awe

Just so that I don't confuse anyone, I want to explain a term I use a lot. I can't find the review right now, but someone once told me I was misusing the term sannin when I used the word sennin in the fic...that wasn't the intention at all. 

A _sennin _is a ninja who is powerful enough to be a kage. There have been three that we know of thus far...the Sannin who trained under the third hokage. I also consider a kage to be a sennin, so that means there are five within Konoha at this point.

The term _sennin_ means "hermit" and is used in other series, like Kame-sennin, the turtle hermit from Dragonball Z. A lot of folks have told me the term shouldn't be used that way because it doesn't mean _powerful ninja below kage rank,_but if you think about it, _kage_ means shadow, and it fits with a ninja series. I always think of a saying that would go with it like "the ultimate ninja is seen all around by his friends, but nothing more than a shadow to his enemies." Well, I sure most would say a hermit fits pretty well with the imagery of a shinobi village too. So...nyah! Anyway, back to business.

* * *

_From the Yondaime Story Arc:_

**_Valor and Harmony  
_Chapter 4: Awe

* * *

**

**"Over here!"**

Mitarashi Anko sighed and pushed off to the left toward the sound of the voice, and almost instantaneously, the two other ninjas turned with her and bounded through the trees.

To her right, a large man cut a front flip, and then kicked up his pace. "I'll go ahead," he called back to them. "You guys follow me."

Anko wiped the sweat from her brow and yelled for the world to hear. "**_Couldn't you have found a straight away, or are you teasing us?_**" Exhaustion crept into her voice. The route they had taken was jagged and irregular, and all Anko could draw from her memory was that they had gone south a significant distance.

The young boy to her left simply frowned and concentrated all the harder on the larger fellow...his only hope of keeping up with their leader. _How can anyone be this fast? We'd never keep up if he didn't keep yelling..._

An inaudible yell was heard, and suddenly the large ninja stopped in his tracks, thudding heavily onto a tree limb and alertly looking around. The young boy and Anko landed next to him. After catching her breath, Anko turned to him. "Kotetsu...why did you stop?"

The largest of the group, Kotetsu glanced around and frowned. "He just...disappeared! His trail is gone...I heard something before that, but I can't figure out what direction..."

------------------------------------------

Nara growled in pain as she tried her best to keep up. She had demanded no coddling, and none was given to her...but now she began to see the need for it. It was just too difficult keeping up with Jounin ninjas while negotiating wrapped ribs...especially when the leader of your group was the Yellow Flash of Konoha. The rest of her group had gotten far enough ahead that she had to track them in order to follow. _Good thing this isn't a mission, _she thought, _or I might be dead by now._

She had been tracking the rest of the group by the sound of their travel through the forest of Konoha, and they had obliged her by being extra loud. Or perhaps it was simply Anko being Anko. Suddenly, however, she noticed that the noises had disappeared, and she checked the area in front of her to find out why they'd stopped. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a strong set of arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

**"Having trouble keeping up?"**

She yelped and lifted her left leg from the ground to back-kick whoever dared to do such a thing in the groin, but her foot was immediately met sole-to-sole with another foot, lightly pushing back down on it. Immediately, she knew who her attacker was.

"Arashi...don't sneak up on me like that." She hated when he pulled stunts like this, but the pain she had been experiencing made this one a tolerable surprise. Nara leaned back just a bit, relaxing into Arashi's arms a bit more. Slowly, her brain kicked back in. "Shouldn't you be in front of everyone?"

Arashi quickly swept her off her feet and into his hands, resting one behind her back and the other beneath her legs. "Well...I was. But we're pretty much there now...no more joking around."

--------------------------------------------

A moment later, Anko, Kotetsu, and Teito turned around to face their blond-haired leader, carrying their wounded teammate. Arashi glanced to Kotetsu as he walked by, and noticed the confused look on the man's face. "What? I went back for her...I asked you to wait and everything...what's so confusing?"

Kotetsu simply gaped. _He moved so fast I couldn't even understand his speech…_

Arashi blinked, then sighed and shook his head. "Well anyway, we're nearly there, so let's stick together and take to the roads." Arashi made sure he had a good hold of Nara's body and leapt out of the trees and to the ground.

Anko sighed and jumped down after him. "I can't believe I'm going through all this for lunch..."

--------------------------------------------

About 5 minutes down the road, they came to a small shop and entered. As the smell of barbecue hit his nose and his stomach began to growl, Arashi smiled and took a good whiff. "This," he said ceremoniously, "is THE sushi and barbecue shop that Kami would go to."

Nara, who'd asserted she'd walk the roads herself, took a look around. The place was actually quite small…there were only seven tables and a drink bar. Of course, there weren't any major cities in the southern part of Fire Country, so that wasn't surprising. Nothing about the place suggested it was anything beyond the ordinary, but Arashi had just given it his personal approval…

Nara sniffed the air. _Whoa. Something does smell good._

They found a round table just big enough to fit all of them comfortably, and Arashi took a seat between the two kunoichi. After a moment of silence, a smile began to spread across his face, and Anko looked curiously at him.

"You seem...excited."

Arashi nodded. "These lunches are one of the high points of my day." His face blanked as he considered the rest of his day for a moment. Paperwork. Training his new genin. Training himself. **More paperwork**. "Honestly, this is probably the only time of the day I get to chat with folks my own age..."

Anko giggled at him, and he smirked back. Being 4 years his junior, she didn't exactly fit that category. "Okay...my own age _group_. At least you're not 5." The whole table chuckled lightly, and Anko blushed slightly.

Soon the waiter came to take their orders, and conversation drifted to talking about the menu items. Arashi knew what he wanted already, so he stayed quiet and took a look around the table. This was a much different lunch from the majority of the ones he'd had thus far with the chuunin and Jounin of Konoha. He actually knew more than one of the faces at the table already!

He glanced to his right. Mitarashi Anko was 12 ("going on 13!", as she said), the youngest of the chuunin, and the prize student of the sannin Orochimaru. She'd attended the very first lunch he'd had as Hokage, and had tagged along on nearly all the others since -- every one she had her schedule free to attend. She was young and bright, and she had a mouth like an adult. And Arashi suspected she had a little crush on him...

Next to her was the one person at the table that Arashi didn't know this time. He'd introduced earlier himself as Teito, a 14 year old chuunin who had advanced with Anko at the last exam. He seemed to be much quieter...shy, perhaps? Arashi looked at him and saw a lot of himself as a ten-year-old...he'd have to see what he could do to help the boy's confidence along so he'd be a capable leader.

Almost opposite Arashi was the largest (by far) of their crew, Koji Kotetsu. A former member of the ANBU, Kotetsu had swapped over into the ranks of the Jounin teachers a year and a half ago. He was a hulk of a guy, 6'10" and probably 300 pounds of muscle. Arashi chuckled as he glanced beneath the table and noticed that Kotetsu had actually pulled two of the armless chairs together to rest his rear on.

And then, looking to his left, he saw his best friend, Uzumaki Narashima, her eyes glued to the menu. _She probably noticed me going around the table. _The irony of the last few weeks had settled within him; he no longer had a fit when he considered the fact that he'd broken his best friend's ribs and nearly killed her. It wasn't a comforting fact, but part of him had come to accept it. And if they made it through that, it would only make their friendship stronger, he decided.

But, yes, this lunch definitely had a different feel to it. Most of them started with just a taste of awkwardness. A few of the rank and file wouldn't know each other, and Arashi would probably not know any of them unless they were old ANBU. That's one of the reasons Anko continued to come; she apparently knew nearly everyone. She'd go about introducing everyone, pretty much spitting out everything she knew about them-- including their fighting style and any rumors she'd heard about their off duty activities. Arashi chuckled...it had only taken him 2 days to learn when to cut her off. It had seemingly taken him two hours to stop a certain brash Jounin from doing so with a kunai at the second lunch, and Arashi would never let that happen again.

The waiter came up to Arashi and smirked. "The usual, sir?"

Arashi chuckled and passed him the menu. "Of course."

_

* * *

_

Small talk continued as everyone waited for the food. Arashi didn't really have a plan for the lunch...he just let things go as they would. After all, they'd introduced themselves before they'd made the trip.

The food began to show up. Arashi hadn't listened to the others order, so he was somewhat surprised. "So everyone went with sushi, huh?"

Most of them chimed that they'd never had barbecue, or at least not the Japanese variety.

Arashi smiled and shook a finger at them. "It's not the Japanese variety..." He sniffed at the air for a moment, and it looked like he nearly fainted. "It's ready...see for yourself."

The waiter came out and placed a tray of barbecue chicken on the middle of the table, along with a jar filled with a dark red sauce. Then he plopped down a loaf of bread. Everyone looked around and noticed how huge the tray was...was he really going to eat all this meat? _And_ the bread?

"I figured I'd get enough for everyone to try it. If you don't eat it, I'm taking it home." A moment of silence passed as the smell filled the air..."Enough talk! Let's eat!"

Everyone at the table yelled, "Itadakimasu!"

And that's exactly what they did.

* * *

Everyone tried the barbecue and liked it, though Kotetsu was not a big fan of the tangy sauce. The waiter brought out a mustard-based sauce on his request, and he chowed down on barbecue. Their sushi portions were not big enough for his liking anyway. (A/N: The mustard-based sauce is a North Carolina thing, if you're wondering.) 

When conversation started up between bites, everyone began to discuss just how awesome this little shop was. While Arashi kept eating, the conversation flowed, until Anko laughed aloud at the irony. "I think it's funny the person who invited us here to get to know him isn't talking at all!"

That got everyone's attention, and Arashi stopped chowing down to respond. "Well, I don't know...ask something. This food is too good for me to have spontaneous conversation right now..."

Nara chuckled. She had no clue Arashi liked barbecue this much. It was almost like her and ramen. _Almost._

As no one else was coming up with anything, Anko felt like it was her job to break the silence, as always. "Okay then...I have a serious question."

Arashi raised an eyebrow and tore off a piece of bread. Chewing and swallowing what was left in his mouth, he replied, "Fire away."

"We're considered by most to be the most powerful of the ninja villages…why is that?"

_Wow. That's quite the deep question...I wonder if she realizes how deep. _Arashi took a bite from the bread in his hand, then swallowed and tilted his chair a bit in her direction. "Well...do you think we're most powerful?" Then he realized how vague that was. "Wait...let's shrink that question a bit. Do you think we're stronger than...say...the Sand?"

Anko squinted for a bit as she attempted to picture the two groups of ninjas. "Sure! I mean we've got the Sannin, and they'd run through the Sand in no time..."

Kotetsu gasped, and barbecue sauce came out of his nose. From the look on his face, one would guess it burned quite badly.

Arashi shook his finger at her. "Don't underestimate enemies you don't know about...the Sand are very strong...and that's a very dangerous overestimation of our advantage."

Anko nodded, but the look in her eyes was pure defiance. Perhaps Orochimaru's confidence in his own strength had rubbed off on her?

Nara frowned, and chimed in on Anko's side. "But, Arashi, you know how strong our top ninjas are...5 sennin..."

Arashi smirked back, but added in a look in his eyes that clearly said _"You're not helping..."_ While it was a light moment, the conversation was serious, and Arashi paused for a moment to figure out how much time he had. _Well...if I'm a little late for **paperwork**, I doubt anyone will mind...or at least I won't._

It was as good a time as ever to shoot down misconceptions, he decided.

"Well…how about **I **compare us to Sand, since Sand is very similar to us in strength. Our top is indeed very strong. Between myself, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and of course Sandaime, we have 5 ninjas who could very well hold their own as Hokage if they so desired. Sand, if they are lucky, probably has about 3...but that's not really that much of a difference…where our real strength comes in is in our middle ranks."

What? How could Konoha's strength be in the middle ranks? Anko raised her voice. "What the **heck** does that mean?"

Arashi took a moment to drink some water. This discussion could last a while. Not to mention, it was a great suspense builder...Sandaime had taught him well in the art of being a professor.

"Well, consider for a moment the situations that come up when a ninja village goes to war with another village. That's the situation where a village's strength would come in handy…so maybe we can think of strength's definition as whatever would help us to win. In a shinobi war, in order for a village towin AND survive, you want as few casualties as possible. That's different from a lot of games. A chess game where every piece except your king and rook are taken is still a victory, if you checkmate your opponent..."

Teito raised his hand. "But a match between ninjas isn't a victory if it goes that way, right? 'Cuz the next time you play that's what you'd start with…" He lowered his hand.

Arashi nodded. "Yep. Life and death are more important than success in a lot of ways…but you're dealing with shinobi…so the situation is all the more dangerous. Just as we are cunning and smart, so are our enemies.

As a leader, everything that you attempt to do to attack the other country is basically a single mission of some sort that you'll send out a group to do. Likewise, everything that they do is a mission, and everything that you attempt to do to _counteract_ what they do is also a mission. So you see, the mission counts will get pretty high pretty quickly."

Everyone nodded. So far so good.

"Okay. So imagine for a moment what would happen if a group of ninjas attacked our walls on the south side." That wasn't enough. "Imagine it was the three lords of Cloud, for instance. Repelling that attack would be an S-rank mission."

Nara took in a sharp breath considering it. "That would suck…"

Anko pictured it for a moment, and then shook off the image. "Well…we have the Sannin…"

Arashi smiled. There was a bit of doubt there at least. "RIGHT. We have the Sannin. Say I send the Sannin over there…and say the 3 Cloud lords are neutralized. Sand may not have a special name for their higher-ups, but they would more than likely be able to repel an attack of this sort too."

Everyone except Anko nodded as they considered their most recent run-ins with the Sand. Yes…the Sand would manage to defeat an attack by the 3 Cloud lords.

"So, the ability to handle an S-rank mission isn't in question here. So what is?"

Everyone paused in their eating, trying to come up with some viable comparison between Sand and themselves that would explain why people thought they were stronger. Nara glanced toward Arashi and suddenly noticed that he'd taken the opportunity to finish off all the leftover barbecue. She fought the urge to giggle, and instead watched him carefully.

Arashi wiped his mouth and jumped back into the lead of the conversation. "Well…what about if Raikage and the Stone Kage attacked at the north wall?"

Everyone gasped.

He had their attention now. "Yes…that would be a SUPER S mission…stopping them would be no easy task for anyone. I believe I need the Sannin over there now."

Everyone nodded. While the lords of the Cloud were powerful, you just didn't mess with Raikage. Nara shuddered at the thought of the Cloud and Stone allying against the Leaf...

"But, wait…now the 3 Cloud lords are attacking at the South wall still…what do I do? The Sannin can't be in two places at once…" Arashi smirked.

"Hmm." Kotetsu nodded in approval as he figured out where this was going. _Clever boy, to come up with this on the fly._

"Luckily for me, I haven't assigned myself…I'll go with Sandaime, and we'll take care of the 3 Cloud lords…or maybe we'll flip that and go after a 4-kage battle royale…"

Chuckles began around the table, but everyone remained focused.

Arashi started again. "But the point is, I've got enough guys to handle that. The Sand might have a bit more trouble…but I'm still going to say that they'd hold their own."

Sand Jounin were no joke. No one dared dispute that.

"So now…as these two things happen, suddenly a regiment of Stone ANBU attempt to take out the Southwest wall and pour into the city…they plan to raze the entire thing."

Arashi paused and took a look around the table. Anko and Teito had broken into a sweat.

"I'm sure you're starting to see where this is going…"

Nara nodded. "There are tons of situations that could come up during a war with another country, and you can't guarantee that your top will always be enough." She looked back to Arashi, an apologetic look on her face. _I never meant to insult the Sand, but my comment came off cocky, and my overconfidence in the Sannin would have fed Anko's. You were right to bring this up._

Arashi looked to Nara and pondered the look she gave him. It looked like an apology, mixed with a touch of respect...more than he expected in that situation. He must have really hit home without intending to. Arashi smiled and nodded in Nara's direction, hoping she'd get his message. _No harm, no foul. Apology accepted. _"Nara gave a good summary of what I'd say. A ninja village is more than its top, and a ninja village that relies on its top all the time will actually be quite weak in a war with other ninjas."

He thought for a moment as he looked around the table. _I could stop there, and it would make sense to them. But...I'm really not in the mood for paperwork. _He cleared his throat and got everyone's attention again. Whipping out a pen and grabbing a napkin, he drew a small map of Konoha, and mapped the current attacks out on it.

"Let's continue our battlefield here...in the situation now, our expanded sennin group is already entirely deployed in the field, and we still need to handle the ANBU assault on the walls. It's not like the attack coming at us is weak…this is still an S-Rank mission for a team to take on. So here's where the problem lies…who do I send now? Who's ready for an S-rank mission against 20 ANBU of Stone Village?"

There was silence all around the table, and yet, Arashi noticed that everyone's fists were balled. A bright smile slowly slid across his face.

"Well, that's the good thing about Konoha. There are a whole lot of Jounin out there who'd be confident enough to take leadership of a mission of that caliber, let alone be a part of it. Sand…well…I won't attempt to speak for them, but I suspect the situation is different."

Nara nodded. Sunagakure had superb Jounin warriors, and even a few who might be called sennin, but their numbers did not match Konoha's Jounin in the least...a match with 20 Stone ANBU would be much harder for them to handle effectively.

Arashi continued. "And now you're starting to see the difference between us and Sand. Our tops are comparable, but when you look for true strength in battle, the difference is going to be extraordinary. You better believe there are more than 3 missions at a time in a war."

Anko blinked as she processed what she heard. "So, it's our depth that makes us strong?"

Arashi nodded again. "Right…and depth is more than just numbers. It's not just the size of our village, but the fact that our middle warriors are confident AND experienced that gives our village strength. We have far more shinobi than Sand who could take on an A or S-ranked mission with confidence. Our top might be higher than theirs…" Arashi paused for a moment as he attempted to picture a battle between Konoha's 5 sennin and Sand's 5 best ninjas. "It MIGHT be higher. But our middle rocks the house on Sand, and that's a HUGE difference in strength." Arashi reached for his glass of water and gauged everyone's understanding.

Everyone nodded. Looks like it sunk in well enough. Arashi swallowed and spoke once more. "Of course, if you ask anyone else, they'd probably just say the Sannin would defeat the Sand Jounin and that's why Konoha rocks...but they aren't the one fighting to keep the most shinobi alive." Arashi's eyes drifted in Nara's direction.

Nara looked at Arashi as if she had seen him for the first time. _Where did all of this knowledge and understanding come from? He's a brilliant strategist to have considered all of this..._Nara noticed Arashi turn to face her, and her breath caught in her throat. _Was I just staring at Arashi? _Quickly, she pulled her eyes away and looked at the table, but she could still feel her cheeks warming...

Before Arashi could even react to what he'd just saw, Anko raised a thought-filled question. "How in the world did we get so much strength in our middle like that?"

Arashi turned from Nara without letting on anything and smirked, then turned toward Kotetsu. "I'm sure Kotetsu can tell us why..."

Kotetsu looked to Arashi with a clever smile, then nodded and answered. "The ANBU program."

**"ANBU!" **The cry could be heard in high-quality stereo sound,as Anko and Taito both spoke in surprise.

Taito spoke first in the ensuing silence. "What do the ANBU have to do with anything?"

Anko chimed in. "Stone and Sand have ANBU too..."

Nara shook off her previous line of thought and attempted to jump back in, a bit louder than neccessary. "Are our ANBU organized differently from Sand and Stone?" Being that she'd never served in ANBU, she didn't know that much about it...

Arashi calmed everyone down, then began to speak once more. "Yes, that's exactly right. Traditionally, the ANBU have been the elite of any given country. They were hunters, trackers, defenders…tanks…any type of powerful ninja would definitely serve a long period of time in ANBU. That's because ANBU performed some of the most important tasks a city could have.

After all, it's the ANBU who man the gates of the city in war times. It's ANBU who work as hunter-nins, searching for S-ranked criminals and tracking runaways. And in times of war, it's the ANBU that do most of the battle, while the genin and chuunin of the world continue to train and hope to get involved…"

Anko chimed in..."That's how it is in Konoha too…"

Arashi shook his head. "That's not exactly true. The tasks are the same, but the people are different." He took another swig of his water, and prepared to talk some more.

"Some fifteen odd years ago, the nature of Konoha's population was changing drastically. The wars of the age of Shodaime and Nidaime were coming to a tenuous conclusion, and though some fighting did continue, it was a relatively peaceful time period. Many of you have younger siblings who were born during that next year…because it seemed like things were settling down, and fathers were returning to households safely all over. The period became a baby-booming period for Konoha.

In most places, that would be great, but for us it was a curious situation. Konoha's upper ranks were strong, but slim. Casualties in the wars with Cloud, Sand, and Mist had hurt us greatly. Very soon, when these younger children entered the academy, we realized that we were going to have far more genin than Jounin…WAY more genin than Jounin.

And when these kids became genin, it was going to be a great question…how are we going to gain these new fellows experience…without risking everything on their actions? Because these elders of our village will not be around forever…we must make the youth stronger."

Arashi looked over to Kotetsu, an old ANBU superior of his, once more. "Were you around for Sandaime's response, Kotetsu?"

Kotetsu smiled and nodded, and then lightly added in his deep voice. "I was already in the ANBU during Sandaime's restructuring."

Arashi nodded. "Would you like to explain, then?"

Kotetsu blushed slightly, then shook his head. "You could probably speak of it a thousand times better than me. I fumble with words." He looked away, slightly embarrassed, then reached for his glass of water. Arashi would not press him, and instead nodded and cleared his throat once more.

"Saru—excuse me...Sandaime considered the options, and decided that it was time to pull the elder shinobi out of the field as much as possible. If the children were going to prosper, they were going to need the best trainers available…and that meant the Sannin and the elders." Arashi glanced to his right. "That's why Anko got Orochimaru's training…and that's why I got Jiraiya's."

Nara soaked in his words, but something didn't feel right about what he said. "But, wouldn't that have left a shortage of capable ninjas in the field? I mean, who took over their jobs?"

Arashi smiled. "It wouldn't have been possible if things on the battlefield hadn't been dying down already…but it's true it was a struggle. There was a definite gap between the capability of the elders…and the rest of the chuunin and Jounin of Konoha. But the lull in activity gave the chance they needed."

How could Arashi paraphrase his grand-sensei's activities? They actually were quite brilliant, but they sounded way too risky to those unused to considering it. He needed a way to make it _sound _brilliant. "What Sandaime decided…was to split the elders up. Some of them remained within the ANBU ranks as coordinators and Captains. The rest took on genin teams. Meanwhile, he took many of the chuunins and younger Jounins and removed their ranks."

"WHAT!" Three voices. Arashi didn't even bother to see which three, because he was fairly certain it wasn't Kotetsu yelling.

"He didn't make them genin or anything…he just removed from the field. These guys and girls became the new ANBU for that year."

Nara frowned. _A bunch of inexperienced chuunin and young Jounin attempting to RUN ANBU? How'd that work?_

Arashi almost read her mind. "They didn't have to run the show there, since many of the elders were still around. The elders led the teams, and the young shinobi filled out the rest of the teams. That way, their inexperience didn't matter so much. At first, it was an awkward fit, but it eventually blossomed into what we have today."

Taito raised his hand, then spoke. "Why would having more inexperienced warriors in the field be beneficial to any team? Especially something as crucial as ANBU?"

Arashi replied, "Well, think of the other possibilities. It was either do this, or put those inexperienced chuunin and Jounin out in the field on their own. A field Jounin leads a team of _really _inexperienced genin, while an ANBU shinobi works on a team of chuunin and Jounin...his equals and superiors in rank. It gives him the opportunity to work with experience…or at least with confidence, and learn from his mistakes in a way where they probably will not result in failure of a mission. If one chuunin makes a mistake on an ANBU mission, there is a team of 3 other chuunin to back him up and correct his mistake. Compare the chances of a success there with a team of 3 genin, and you will see immediately why ANBU being organized this way makes sense."

Taito nodded, and Arashi continued. "This lets the inexperienced gain experience, while freeing up Konoha's best ninjas from doing (important, but) everyday activities, and allows them to be the teachers for the academy. And when serious conflict happens, our best fighters are fresh. When the ANBU members graduate, they will be ready to join that group."

Nara sighed. "I was never invited to ANBU..."

Arashi looked her way and raised an eyebrow, wondering if she meant that. After pausing for a moment and getting no response from her, he figured she did not know, and decided to let the cat out of the bag. "True, there are exceptions. There are chuunin who don't do ANBU…but these are chuunin with skills that Konoha needs in the battlefield immediately. Or really confident ones who don't need ANBU encouragement." He looked Nara's way, and found her face slightly redder than before. He chose to ignore that.

"There are also Jounin with special skills that aren't ready to lead a team of genin…they shall be ANBU first, more than likely. Every now and then, there is an elite one who gets into ANBU for different reasons. This hasn't happened yet, but if there was ever a really young Jounin...like if Kakashi were to become one within the next 5 years or so, he'd probably be in ANBU for a while."

Kotetsu raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" Of course, Kotetsu had no idea who Kakashi was...

Arashi chuckled. "Because he's **5, **that's why...even in 5 years he'd probably be younger than his students! There's no way they'd listen to him. Instead, we'd put him on a tiger team in ANBU and watch the other shinobi learn to believe in his leadership skills. Not to mention, any prodigy kid like that who proves his worth that quickly shouldn't be forced to do C and D rank missions again after so few years of advanced missions. That's my opinion, anyway."

While Anko was probably thinking it, it was Nara who got the words out. "Well, why are we still doing things that way now? I mean, it's not like we have a shortage of ninjas at the top anymore…"

Arashi smiled and began to count with his fingers. "This is true. Between myself, Sandaime, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, we have 5 Sennin or kage level ninjas in our village. In addition, we have a multitude of chuunin and Jounin who are confident enough to pull off all types of missions. But this situation is a direct consequence of the way ANBU has been organized…remember…a strong top is vital, but a nation that has a strong middle—or even a tough bottom—is going to outlast a nation with just a powerful top, more than likely. Unless the tops are just not worth comparing..."

Nara blinked and tried to avoid staring, but she was quite amazed. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the concept of Konoha's middle being its defining strength, but she could tell Arashi had faith in that. _He's really been studying Konoha's organization…and he deeply believes in it. Astounding._

Kotetsu smiled and spoke, his booming voice relaying its approval."It's great to see, Yondaime-sama, that you are so in line with Sandaime's methods."

Arashi chuckled and reached up, scratching his own hair nervously as he realized everyone's attention was on him. "Well, to a point I was a product of them, so I definitely see the merit of them. I never would have been trained by Jiraiya if not for that change…and I never would have joined ANBU if they were as elite as they were before. I would have just been a shy kid."

Nara blinked. _That's true…you were a shy kid. _The thought sunk in a bit more. _You've grown entirely out of that...to the point that I almost don't remember that shy kid as **you**..._

"And I certainly wouldn't be making my own jutsu…"

Nara's eyes widened. _Your own jutsu?_

Anko's nose flared, and her bossy tone came out. "You know you can't say something like that and just get off…"

* * *

The lunch had been great, but this was entirely different. At lunch, there was food. At lunch, there was playful discussion, yelling, and...well...food. There had always been the sense of distraction, even as he was talking. 

Now, there was just him...and them. And the tree, of course. Everyone's eyes were entirely on Arashi, and it was just the slightest bit unnverving. Even with his back turned to them, he had the unshakable feeling of being watched. And Nara's eyes, his subconscious expected, were boring into him further than anyone else's. It kinda made him proud...but it threatened to make him awkward. He'd better get moving before his adrenaline got out of hand.

Nara watched carefully as Arashi placed a hand on the tree in front of him, and whispered _I'm sorry_ to it. That got her blood pumping..._this technique must be quite damaging if he's feeling bad for the tree_.

Arashi turned back to everyone and extended his right hand to them. "My technique involves the manipulation of chakra flow in a very concentrated manner. I call it the Rasengan...and I'm still in the process of improving it, but I'll show you what I've done thus far." Arashi looked around, and immediately regretted it. He quickly pulled his eyes away from Nara's intense focus and back towards his hand. _I need all my concentration for this...no looking around anymore. Let's get started. _"This is a bit difficult to do in stages, so forgive me if I zone out anything you say."

Arashi willed his chakra into his hand, and slowly extended it beyond his body...a light wind began to flow from his palm due to all the energy moving about. He opened his lips and spoke with measured words, keeping his concentration on his hand and not his speech. "The first step is to channel chakra to the hand and get a flow going around the center of the palm...a strong flow that could burst a water balloon." As he finished speaking, he put his heart into what he was doing once more, and the wind began to flow at a perceptible speed...he heard the gasp as everyone felt the air rush toward them. Arashi felt the muscles in his hand tense up a bit, and he carefully lessened the flow.

Even though there was total silence, Nara was pretty sure she was the only one who noticed just how much concentration and care Arashi was operating with while doing this. In fact, she was so absorbed in what he was doing that she was holding her breath.

"Step two," Arashi said, the edge on his voice increasing,"is to push this flow to the _limits...concentrate it on one spot...and extend it from the hand..._" He immediately began to do so, and the change was immense. The wind blew like a typhoon, and everyone steadied themselves as they realized that Arashi was really pouring his chakra into this...

Nara didn't even bother to steady herself...her right foot automatically slid backwards, and she kept her eyes on Arashi. The wind shook her just enough to alert her that she wasn't breathing, and she began to breathe heavily, but otherwise stayed still and watched. Sweat was beginning to form on his brow, and his eyes were wide and focused...almost as if he were locked into looking directly at a certain point on his hand. She was certain there was a lot of detail she was missing, but she could see the blue chakra extending from his hand...flowing in random directions...and she could picture the spot Arashi was staring at...the eye of the hurricane. The wind forced his hair back, and the light from the chakra began to glow upon his focused face...

He looked ridiculously cool. Suddenly, he extended his hand further, and Nara snapped back to reality.

"**Step three**..." Arashi said, his voice booming from the adrenaline of the moment, "**is _THIS_**..." His eyes shut tightly as he focused his entire mind on the hardest part of the entire process.

Nara immediately noticed the difference in his concentration as his eyes snapped shut, and the sweat began to flow down his forehead and nose. She could hear the sounds of straining and struggle exit his throat as he attempted to force his will upon the chakra in his hand...the frequency of the sound increased. As she looked on, she could see the blue chakra in his hand twist and curl around his fingers, and form into a ball. _Wait a minute..._

Nara looked again. It wasn't quite a ball...the chakra was rushing around so quickly and violently that it was hard to call it anything. But a pattern had been established...all the rushing chakra was concentrated in this one spherical area. _Holy cow...it's like a small typhoon._ The wind died away, probably because this "controlled", rushing chakra was containing the wind as opposed to tossing it around. Nara couldn't peel her eyes away from the thing, and probably would not have if it hadn't been moving.

Arashi couldn't keep his hand still because he was taking in deep breaths. The chakra in his hand remained in a tight ball even as his hand moved and his fingers twitched...his eyes remained closed. "Step three..." he said with slight breathlessness, "is to concentrate the chakra into a ball, and increase the spin to a point where the ball is tight...and then keep it there." He took a deep breath, then turned toward the tree. "Now I guess I should show you...what it does..."

There was utter silence in the area as the four shinobi watched their Hokage measure his distance and get into battle stance, the Rasengan in his right hand. A low growl began deep within Arashi, heightening into a yell as he thrust his open palmed attack into the tree. "_Rasengan_!"

If Nara's theory was correct, then the chakra would hit the tree and disperse across it in random vectors, causing major damage to the bark of the tree…and anything that could cause damage to tree bark would do much worse to human skin. _Creative, Arashi-kun…you sure did build that up dramatically..._

She was wrong.

Arashi's thrust did not end where it should have…he continued to slowly move his palm forward. As Nara looked again, she realized that the ball of chakra was not dispersing…but the tree was…the chakra was spinning so powerfully that it was tearing the bark away! Immediately, her mind processed and understood what had happened. _The third step...I didn't really understand it...but since the ball of chakra's so tight...the energy doesn't diverge! _Nara looked wide-eyed at Arashi once more. _When did he become this...**amazing**?_

Arashi continued his thrust until his palm was fully extended…by then everyone could clearly see the hole…the energy had cut cleanly through the tree, leaving a gaping hole bigger than Arashi's hand. Silent awe dominated the area as Arashi retracted his hand from the hole in the tree. Silently, he massaged his right hand with his left, letting the feeling return. But what he said next changed the mood entirely.

Arashi walked back toward them and frowned. "Darn…I still can't consistently do it the way I want."

It took a few seconds for it to sink in.

Anko scratched behind her ear in thought. "Wait a second..."

Nara's jaw dropped. "**_You mean you did it WRONG, and it did THAT!_**"

Kotetsu yelled. "What the heck is it **supposed **to do?"

A smile crossed Arashi's face as he lightly slid back into his battle stance. He really hadn't intended to mess up, but maybe it was for the best. Now someone would appreciate the years he had spent creating this technique. Extending his right palm in front of him, he began to concentrate once more. "**This...**"

Again, the chakra began to flow, kicking up a sudden and short gust of wind as it binded itself into a tight ball. Nara watched as Arashi closed his eyes and concentrated further, and the ball began to glow brighter than ever before. Was he putting more chakra into it?

Nara froze in place as she watched in awe. _He's even more powerful than I could have ever imagined. Somehow, I'd missed this much…_

Arashi yelled fiercely this time as he pulled his hand back to his side…and then ran toward the tree, thrusting with force…

Nara was the only one to see the full detail of what happened next. As the ball of chakra hit the tree, it was exactly as before…the tree attempted to absorb the chakra, but the fiercely tight spin of it began to tear it apart piece by piece. But then...as Arashi's eyes opened in a moment of supreme focus…Nara noticed the spin change slightly, and the ball lost shape for a moment…suddenly, the ball of chakra was absorbed into the tree.

**_"GET DOWN!"_**

Nara's eyes were wide, and she spoke without full thought…but some part of her brain had registered what would happen next. With a sharp yell, Arashi released the tight structure of the ball of chakra…and the loose chakra tore through the tree in random directions. The tree exploded as if each piece had been individually detonated, sending wooden shrapnel into the sky, and the shinobi who had stood watching quickly ducked for cover…

Nara did not move at all. She simply stood there, semi-panicked, for she had just realized a very important detail.

* * *

_Flashback: Chapter 1_

_He stood upright for a moment, his eyes revealing the earlier annoyance. Arashi looked directly to the eyeholes on the mask of the adversary. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, you picked the absolute worst time ever to screw with me…"_

_Blazing forward at a speed few could pick up with their eyes, Arashi seemingly glided toward the hunter, and quickly pinned the warrior against the side of a tree with his left forearm. In a surge of anger, he raised his right hand--open-palmed--and his eyes widened. _

_The hunter blinked behind the mask, then her focused eyes diverted their sight towards the open hand, just in time to see the air around it seemingly rush about in a tight ball. The hunter lightly gasped and began to struggle for freedom, feeling the intense amount of chakra in the man's palm…

* * *

_

_My God, _she thought as debris began to hit the ground around her. _He was going to use that technique on me!_

"Hey! Look out!" Arashi leaped forward and smacked a tree section that was about to hit Nara in the face. "Nara, snap out of it!" Arashi turned back to her and snapped his fingers in front of her face. He paused and looked into her eyes. They were wide open and twitching in..._fear. _Arashi grabbed her hands and could feel her body shuddering and twitching. "Hey...hey..." Finally, he began to understand what was happening to her. "Hey...you're okay. Nothing happened..." He had entirely forgotten that she had seen that technique before. Carefully, he drew her into a hug and hugged her as tight as she could stand with her rib wrappings. "Everything's okay, Nara...snap out of it..."

Nara heard what he was saying, and she automatically hugged him back, but she was not in control of her body's response anymore. She felt the guilt for what she had done take over and her hands shook more. "I...I..."

"Shhhh..." Arashi patted her back and just held her. "It's okay."

Nara burst into tears and buried her face into Arashi's shoulder, sobbing and shaking. Arashi stayed still and let her cry, lightly squeezing her.

Suddenly,her body fell limp in his arms. She apparently fainted...too much excitement for her body to handle.Arashi took a deep breath and leaned in towards her ear.He calmly whispered into her ear. "I'm sorry I showed you that...I wasn't thinking. But all is forgiven...once you forgive yourself." He didn't know whether she could hear him or not, but as he spoke her spasms and twitching had stopped, and her breathing had calmed.

Arashi slipped behind Nara, bent down as before and lifted Nara into his arms, and felt his right hand go numb. "Ack! Kotetsu! A little help here!" Kotetsu ran over and helped as Arashi's arms faltered a bit, and Arashi dropped quickly to his knees so that he wouldn't drop Nara. "Careful of her ribs." Arashi gasped and held his right hand as Kotetsu lifted Nara's body up and over his right shoulder, holding her carefully.

Kotetsu raised an eyebrow to Arashi. "Is she okay?"

Arashi nodded and started to rise. "She just fainted...too much drama for one day. She'll be fine."

Taito and Anko ran over to Arashi and helped him to his feet. After being assured that Nara was okay, the conversation went back to the Rasengan.

"Holy crap," said Anko, "I thought the first technique was rough…boring a hole into something…but then you made it…"

Arashi smiled. "Yeah…if I can time it just right, I can combine the 2nd step with the 3rd, and send such a large amount of chakra into the ball at just the right time…that it overwhelms whatever attempts to absorb the energy. But I have to be careful…" He raised his hand to them, fingers twitching, "...or else I'll give too much and end up damaging my tenketsu, or worse."

"Sugoi!"

"Awesome!"

"I never thought I'd see the day…that someone surpassed the--"

Arashi cut Kotetsu off, being sure to lift his left hand as opposed to his right. "I haven't surpassed anyone, Kotetsu. I've got a long way to go before I can say that." Arashi sighed; the adrenaline was finally leaving his system a bit. "It's late. We should head back now."

---------------------

End Notes

I really hope that ending didn't come off rushed. I made a decision at 11 that this chapter would be out before I went to bed...and it's 4 in the morning now so I think I got a bit impatient...maybe it won't come through though. On another note, I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written for anything...

One of those Naruto inconsistencies that I just can't follow...I just realized today that in this time period, Anko would be...3. It doesn't make any sense.

I mean, Anko was around long enough to be experiemented upon and trained by Orochimaru. How long do you think Orochimaru hung around after the Arashi became the Fourth Hokage? I expect, not long. And since the Fourth trained Kakashi from age 5 up to 16, I figured Anko would be older than him...if he was just training when Anko had already been around, it made sense for her to be maybe 10 years older than him.

And forgive me if you are a huge fan of her, but I look at her in the series and I think of a mid-30's girl who's aging quite well...I never thought of her as still in her 20's.Well...according to the manga and the age books, she's actually **2 years younger than Kakashi**. She's 24 in the anime, and Kakashi is 26. And that makes absolutely NO logical sense unless Orochimaru hung around for a good 10 years after Arashi became Yondaime, OR unless a very young girl stole her way out of Konoha to meet with Orochimaru after he left. I really don't picture Konoha allowing 5 year olds(or even younger) to sneak out of their heavily guarded village...especially with an S-ranked ninja having just escaped and threatening to return to raze the city. I refuse to consider that possibility, so in my fics, Anko will be 10 years older. She'll be 34 in the anime, and 12 in these scenes. So nyah.

I do not know if anyone agrees with my theory about the Konoha ANBU, but it's just a little something that watching the anime made me think about. When the Sand and Sound unite to take down the Leaf, it's the Jounin of Konoha -- not the ANBU -- who fight the battle in the arena. Meanwhile, the ANBU set up a counterattack and fight in the streets. But, remember, the main plan of Orochimaru and the Sand was centered around Gaara going to war with the Jounin. It seems like the entire plan was structured around the Jounin being occupied and destroyed...and I just don't see that as logical if the top fighters in Konoha were the ANBU. We've never seen a single ANBU person from Konoha do anything important...

Which is why I suspect that the ANBU are actually not the top tier that we picture them as sometimes. I think they're a tough middle tier as a team, but I think the toughest individual fighters in Konoha are the teachers. And that makes sense to me...if you want to be successful in the long term, then your best and brightest should be teaching the next generation...not getting themselves killed in the field (if you can avoid it).

Feel free to review!


	5. Interest

Exploding trees.

* * *

For your reading pleasure...

* * *

Imagine a dream where you were under barrage from _exploding trees_. 

Now imagine a dream where you were under barrage from a man who could **make **trees explode.

* * *

From the Yondaime Story Arc...

* * *

Now imagine that you were having a dream where you **_voluntarily_** put yourself in a situation that led to you being under barrage from a man who could make trees explode... 

Imagine that he made _you_ explode.

_Nara's nightmares are not a pleasant place to be._

_

* * *

_

**_Valor and Harmony  
_Chapter 5: Interest **

**

* * *

**

She might have fainted, but that didn't mean she wasn't still freaking out.

For the first time, Uzumaki Narashima understood the full depths of what she'd done that fated day. When she'd entered that clearing and faced off with the Fourth Hokage, she'd done more than test herself against a worthy opponent. **_She'd effectively attempted suicide. _**The shock of realizing this had separated her from control of her own body, and she'd fainted. But deep within, her mind was still in shock.

She was shocked, of course, at how fortunate she'd been to survive the incident. Had he not recognized her when he did, she would have been roasted whole. But, beyond that, she was shocked at how much Kazama Arashi--three years her junior--had grown in the years since they'd last seen each other fight. He had been her best friend for a long time, and she'd come to think she knew him inside and out.

My, how wrong she'd been. My, how things had changed.

* * *

It had been nearly ten years since they'd met...herself a 9-year-old beginning her training at the academy...and he a 6-year-old runt mourning the loss of his father. The poor kid lived alone in his father's old apartment, and she'd been concerned for his well-being as soon as she'd met him. Her parents didn't approve, so she went to her instructor...and after getting his approval, she was given 30 minutes out of daily training to go check on the poor little guy. 

His house was guarded since the attack (and apparently he had caretakers),but that was ok. They were protecting him from killers, not messengers. She knew which room he slept in, and there was a hole in the floor there. That first day, she squeezed a piece of paper through the hole, trusting he'd stumble upon it before his caretakers would.

* * *

1 PM, Friday October 4 

Hi! You don't know me, but I'm Uzumaki Nara. I'm 9 years old, and I heard about you the other day.

It must be hard coping with what you've been through. I couldn't imagine how much things would suck if my dad died. But I'm a shinobi, and I'd make it. I know you can make it too!

I just thought I'd write...I can't get past the guard at the door. I might be a ninja, but I'm not that good yet! I'll pass by again sometime. See ya!

* * *

The next time she'd passed, he'd peeped into the hole in the floor. Bad timing...her note caught him right in the eye as she shoved it through the hole. They'd passed notes back and forth for the next hour. 

And that's how they got to know each other. Every day, as odd as it was, they'd pass messages through the hole...and sometimes chat through an open window. But she never saw what he looked like. He never let her see him. He had a cut on his face from the attack, he said, and he didn't want anyone to see it. She accepted that, but there was a trade: she never let him see her either.

So they'd chat about anything and everything. She'd share about her training and how difficult it was...her ambition to serve her village...and her dog Inu. And he'd share about his father...about how loving and caring he was...about how his father had saved his life...and about his own ambition to make his life be one worth saving.

She'd known then that he'd be a shinobi.

He'd entered the academy a month later, she remembered...at least 3 years younger than every other student the academy had ever accepted. And quickly, he'd proven why he had been accepted. He was smart...far smarter than she was, and he'd quickly picked up the concepts of chakra control. She couldn't help but be a bit jealous, and she shied away from him...just like everyone else. She convinced herself that he was fine...that he'd recovered from the low point his life had been at before, and she focused herself on being the best shinobi she could be. No more time away from practice.

It took a year for them to actually speak again...

They'd moved on from learning about chakra to using it, and the first move they'd learned was bunshin no jutsu. Nara couldn't figure it out, but little Arashi definitely could. One day, she snuck up on his little practice area and admitted her weakness.

Entering the clearing where he was practicing, Nara announced her presence with noisy curiosity and frustration. "I don't get it…why are you so good at that? I can't even make one clone, and you're already making 3 at a time…"

The look of shock on his face as he turned to face her surprised her at first. Was he so unused to being spoken to? Nara walked closer to him and prepared to ask for help, but the shocked look intensified as she approached. By the point that she reached him, he was shaking, and Nara's voice stalled to a stop.

Arashi's eyes were wide, and he pointed at her, unexpectedly catching her on the nose with his index finger, and watching her eyes cross. "**You!** You're that girl...the one from the window!" He'd recognized her voice.

Catching her completely off-guard, the little 7-year-old dived toward her and tackled her. She lost her balance and fell, and the little guy wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, burying his face into her midsection. His tears quickly soaked through her shirt. "_Thank you..._"

And things were never the same after that.

* * *

She'd realized not too long later that it would take a much longer time for him to recover. Arashi would always look to his father's sacrifice, and wonder if he had done enough to make himself worth it. It created a void within him...sucking away his confidence and self-esteem. And though she always encouraged him, she'd resigned herself to the fact that he'd never get over it and just be himself. 

_Whoosh..._

Nara's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rush of air across her face, and she snapped awake. Something grabbed for her legs, and latched on tightly, holding them in place.

Opening her eyes and turning her head forward, her face was tickled by short blond hair, and she realized that _he_ was carrying her piggyback now. She'd awakened for a moment before, and she was certain that then she was over Kotetsu's broad shoulders.

Ironic...after years of her carrying him and building his confidence, something shifted, and _he _was carrying _her_. Nara felt her upper body pull away and instinctively reached her arms around his waist and held on tight. Suddenly, she realized he wasn't wearing his Jounin vest...just his Konoha-issued black long-sleeved undershirt. Strong abs pressed back against her arms.

_Yes, things have definitely changed.

* * *

_

Arashi immediately noticed when Nara regained consciousness...the change in her breathing was easy enough to pick up on. As he leaped through the trees and back towards Konoha, he quickly adjusted his grip on her. If she was fully awake, he no longer needed to run with his back nearly flat so she wouldn't slide off...she'd keep her own upper body balance. Arashi slipped his arms beneath her legs to steady her, and felt her arms wrap tightly around his waist.

In a deep voice, Arashi pronounced, "The dead has awakened." He felt Nara's arms tighten a bit more around his waist as she tensed up. _Whoops. Bad choice of words, considering..._

Nara frowned and moaned groggily. "Shut up..." She felt a slight headache come on, and sighed. Her whole face felt itchy and stiff. Since she couldn't move her arms to pick with her face, Nara shifted her head and plopped her forehead onto Arashi's back.

Arashi tensed up. "And just _what_ are you doing?" He could feel her face muscles moving on his back as she opened and closed her eyes and raised her eyebrows. It was a very strange feeling. Was she attempting to massage her face with his _back muscles_? Arashi did his best to ignore the random movements and focus on making it back. The awkwardness of the moment had combined with the physical work to make him break a sweat.

Nara stopped her random 'just woke up' routine for a moment and looked around. "Where're the others?"

"They know the way back. I had them go ahead and get back to the village." Arashi realized he'd been moving blindly for a moment, and adjusted his course slightly.

So, they were alone. Nara paused for a moment of consideration, and then bent her head down again, this time poking her nose into Arashi's back. She tilted her head slightly to either side, effectively wiggling her nose, and being careful not to break it.

"Umm...you're not going to keep that up the whole trip, are you?" If so, Arashi decided, he'd have to put her down. This was just too awkward. "Seriously..."

Nara got the point and raised her head, resting it on his shoulder. "Nah," she replied weakly, "I'm done. Sorry."

Arashi suddenly felt selfish, but accepted her apology. "No harm, no foul...but if your head hurts we can get you some medicine when we get back..."

Nara calmly and politely replied, "Thanks."

Awkwardness seeped in quickly as silence overcame small talk. Arashi grunted as he changed directions again, and Nara effectively kept her mind clear by focusing on the rushing wind passing through her hair. It was Arashi who eventually overcame the silence.

"Nara?" A question in itself, as though he was unsure of whether she was asleep or not.

She wasn't, but she was tired of talking...tired of thinking today. No response came from her. Arashi sighed heavily and kept moving.

Their relationship had grown awkward, and Arashi suspected he'd find no better time to set things straight than now, out of the city, alone. But, with her drifting in and out of consciousness, what was he to do? "Darn it. What's it gonna take to turn this around?" Arashi seemed to speak beneath his breath, as though he were thinking aloud.

"This was the first real chance to talk we've had...the only time since then that she hasn't been in deep pain and completely emotional." Some kind of deep self-contempt seemingly slipped into his voice. "She was talking fine in public...and then I had to ruin it by showing her _that_. I should have been more considerate, but I really didn't think about it." He got quiet for a moment, as if considering something, and Nara carefully regulated her breathing, attempting to imitate sleep...

Apparently it worked. Arashi began to speak again, almost as if talking to a third person. "She's distancing herself from me...she thinks I haven't noticed, but it's hard not to. I was always the one disappearing for missions and such...but since she left my place a couple of weeks ago...we're in the same city and we hardly even see each other."

Those words hit Nara in the teeth. It wasn't really planned, but she knew she wasn't making any effort to see him, and in fact was avoiding her usual hangouts. Was she really doing it to avoid him? Nara had never thought about it.

"I don't know...I don't know what to do anymore." Something in his tone suggested that he wanted to throw his hands in the air in frustration, but since his hands were holding her legs, he didn't. His voice wavered slightly, and she realized he was praying...pouring out his soul. "Kami-sama, help me understand what I'm doing wrong..."

Nara forced back a frown. She regretted that she'd ever attacked him, of course...but now she saw something more. Her actions since then...the fear she'd shown and the careful (if unconscious) distance she had taken from him...the posing in public and acting like everything was the same...even though both of them knew how awkward things were in private...those had hurt him more than any physical attack she'd done.

"You know I'm really trying. I just...don't know where to begin anymore. I'd do anything for her. She's my best friend...and for a long time, my only friend. I don't want to lose her over one mistake." Arashi paused, and felt himself begin to get misty-eyed.

"It's like that one time back in the academy...when I joined, my one friend just disappeared. I wondered if I'd ever have a friend again once I became a ninja..."

Nara's ears perked up. Was he talking about what she thought he was talking about?

"When the letters stopped coming, and I stopped hearing her voice, I was so sad...I remember thinking I should stop, and maybe she'd come back, and then I realized how stupid that sounded. Backing out would mean being a coward. But I did have one wish..."

Nara struggled to keep her breathing the same as silenced washed over them. The wind tossed a drop of water onto Nara's face, and she suddenly realized that Arashi was crying.

"I wished I'd never become a shinobi in the first place," Arashi wheezed out. "...that I'd _never even tried_. Then she'd have kept passing by always..."

That was a cut to Nara's soul. She'd literally had no clue that her presence had helped (and her absence hurt) so much. _Am I doing the same thing to him now that I did then?_

"And sometimes, when I think about this, it makes me wish I had never become Hokage either. Then none of this would have happened. I would have been content to be in ANBU, and she never would have attacked."

Nara sighed inwardly. _I've caused Arashi so much trouble..._

Arashi carefully cleared his throat, attempting to avoid shaking his body in such a way that might stir her. "Now that I am Hokage, I cannot look back. I won't let my personal life get in the way of my mission...no matter how much it hurts." The confidence seemed to stir back into his voice again, if only for a moment.

"Kami-sama, here is my prayer: strengthen me so that I may be true to my words and my commitment. Be with her and help her understand how much I value and appreciate her." Arashi took a deep breath and calmed his emotions, knowing that he would have to wake her and talk to her soon. "And help me as I try to tell her what I've told you. Ame--"

**"Ay-men." **Uzumaki Nara lightly squeezed Arashi's sides, pronouncing an end to his prayer in unison with him. _No point in keeping up this ruse. I've run away from my problems enough._

Arashi took a deep breath before responding. "I had a feeling you were still awake."

Nara frowned, holding back her emotion. Refusing to cry audibly, she released a hand from Arashi's waist and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know."

Arashi sighed. He'd said just about everything he could say...the ball was in her court now. Arashi focused on his legs for a bit, redirecting them once more and letting his quickly-beating heart worry about itself. If he kept getting distracted by other stuff, they'd circle Konoha instead of entering it...

Nara considered the situation fully. The words he'd said were pained ones...expressions of the frustration and pain he'd felt through all of this. Yet, she appreciated how he really felt, and she appreciated the fact that he'd said it all. No matter how intentional it was that she hear it, he'd bared a huge portion of his life to her, and she was amazed at his heart. During all of this, he could have been angry and jaded...he could have killed her, or ignored her...but instead, he was _praying for her. _Despite all the things she'd done, he still cared about her. It amazed her even more, considering this entire situation was _all her fault. _Once before, she'd cried realizing that...but this time the tears were of joy and appreciation. Still, she had to ask.

"Kazama Arashi, why do you even care anymore?"

Arashi didn't answer. She took it that he didn't quite follow the question, and elaborated.

"Most men..." _No. That doesn't do it justice. _"Most _people_ in your situation would have calloused their hearts by now and run from me. I myself would have." It was a bit of a push for her to picture herself in his shoes, but she knew herself...and she probably would have given up long ago on her panicked friend if the tables were turned. "Considering how bad I've treated you, why do you even care _what_ I think of you anymore? Why are you still helping me?"

Arashi paused for a moment, and then replied. "No matter what you've done or haven't done, you are still my friend."

"How's that?"

Arashi made a decision right then. _Screw the paperwork! I've got something more important than paperwork to handle. _Noticing where he was, Arashi stopped and landed in a treetop, and slowly lowered Nara back onto her own two feet. Stepping away from her, he walked toward the end of the branch and looked out over the city of Konoha. They had a good view of the _an_ gate, but were not quite there. Arashi opened his mouth to speak, and hoped his words would come out with clear meaning.

"When I was six, at the moment that I most needed help, someone was there for me...sending me letters...chatting with me for hours sometimes...helping me face myself, even when I wouldn't face her. I'll remember those days forever." Arashi turned around and faced Nara, immediately locking eyes with her. "We've both changed since then, of course, but I will never forget who was there for me when I needed it the most. You don't even realize it, but you've always been looking out for me...and I appreciate it." His green eyes twinkled as he looked into hers with appreciation. Nara smiled back as if to accept his thanks, her eyes still a bit puffy and red from crying, but Arashi continued to speak, stepping forward.

"The reason I stick around...is because I see the opportunity to return the favor." He noted the surprise in her blue eyes, but continued on. "You underestimated me...we've both admitted that. But you've underestimated yourself as well. I think I've been put in a position where I see more of you than anyone else does...maybe more than you do." Curiosity twinkled in his eyes as he considered his friend, and the smirk on her face told him that she didn't believe him. "You see what you've done recently and begin to falter...but I see you for what you've always been."

Arashi took another step forward as Nara's face switched from skepticism to surprise. They were only a step apart now, and a single tear was running down Nara's face. "You're loyal...you stand by your friends even when they don't stand by themselves." He took another step forward, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "And you're hard on yourself...more so than anyone else. That's why you did what you did...and that's why you haven't forgiven yourself for it. You have your rough edges...everyone does. Every piece of wood has its splinters. But you expect more of yourself than a carpenter does of his chairs..." He noted when her cheeks started to redden. "Nara-chan...you're one of the best ninjas I know, and you're the best friend I've got. I just want you to know everything's forgiven...and you can let go now. Seriously."

Arashi swept his hands behind Nara, and pulled her to his chest. He wrapped her up in a strong hug and closed his eyes, and she squealed in surprise. He took a deep breath and spoke again, his words coming out like verbal happiness, full of confidence and authority. "**I love you, Uzumaki Narashima...and nothing you do or say is going to change that**."

Nara felt a warm smile cross her face as she buried her head in his chest and melted in his strong arms. Warm tears flooded her eyes, and she closed them and remembered his words...

* * *

_"The reason I stick around...is because I see the opportunity to return the favor."_ _

* * *

_

"I love you too, Arashi-kun. _Thank you..."_ Nara couldn't shake the similarities between now and their first in-person meeting...lots of crying and emotion governed both occassions. Not only that, but something about this felt to her...like she was only now really seeing Arashi for the whole of his being. It was like knowing a person only through their words, and not their actions...much as he knew her back then. Nara wrapped her arms around his back and squeezed tightly. Their warm, heart-felt embrace lingered on for a minute or so.

Nara stifled a chuckle as she considered her own doubts from before that first meeting--as well as her doubts from now. Both times she'd abandoned him...it wasn't because of her jealousy. While she was a bit jealous of his abilities, she would never have ditched him for that. No...Nara realized now it was because she felt inferior. It was because she suspected he'd surpassed her enough to no longer need her. Well, somewhere in the middle, without even noticing it, she'd lost some of her self-confidence, and he'd stepped up to help her like it were a natural part of his character. Unexpectedly, _she _began to need _him_. And she was ever so grateful for the fact that he'd noticed before she had...

They'd never been this close to each other before, and Nara suddenly realized just how much taller than her Arashi was...larger in general, in fact. He'd really grown over the last few years...he was probably 6 feet tall...a good 4 inches over her, maybe more. Nara pulled back from the hug for a moment and looked into his eyes. It was like looking into the eyes of an older brother...honest and true, heartfelt love shined in his green eyes like jewelry on a girl's neck. Nara suddenly felt overwhelmed with gratitude, and she got up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

Arashi's cheeks reddened and he opened his eyes in surprise. "What was that for?" Even as he said it, his smile broadened.

Nara smiled and looked directly into his eyes, her blue eyes shining with love as well. "For being you. That's all." Kami, she could feel herself blushing...

Arashi felt his cheeks start to turn deep red too, and chuckled, unwilling to turn away just yet. A moment of contented silence passed between the two of them before Arashi reluctantly turned back towards the city and sighed. "I suppose I should get back to the paperwork now..."

Nara moaned. "Awwww...I didn't think you'd go back there now..."

Arashi turned and looked at her funnily, raising an eyebrow. "And what exactly did you think I'd do? This is my _job_, after all..." He turned back towards the city.

Nara chuckled and walked up to him, wrapping a playful hand around his waist and lightly tickling his abs. He tensed up a bit, and she chuckled. _Still ticklish, I see...some things never change._ "It's already 4 in the evening...I figured you'd want to spend the rest of your day with your old friend...catch up on old times...and new ones."

Arashi turned and looked at her with a smirk, holding in his laughter. His entire expression had **Don't think I won't tickle you back** written all over it. "That would mean double the work tomorrow..."

Nara stuck her tongue out and poked his bellybutton with her index finger, daring him to tickle her back. She became well aware of the fact that there was little to no give in his six-pack. "You old man...it'd also mean double the pleasure today."

Arashi held in laughter and opened his mouth to respond, then paused thoughtfully. _She sure is having fun playing with my abs today_...Arashi turned to her, his emerald eyes curious and probing, his smile electric. Between chuckles, he pronounced, "Nara-chan, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were flirting with me."

Nara raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then playfully clowned him, trying not to give away her evil (and childish) plot by her expression. "Gee Arashi, you can tickle me back...but don't make me--" She cut her words short and pounced, tickling him in earnest with all her fingers. **_"LAUGH!"_**

"A--aa! Stop it!" Arashi collapsed onto his side, and she quickly pinned him down, making him squirm beneath her quick fingers.

"Is it flirting to welcome your best friend back by tickling him?"

Suddenly, Nara's hands froze, and Arashi took a deep breath in, laughing. A part of Nara's brain that apparently hadn't been working switched on, and her face struggled to hide its panicked declarations. _Wait a minute...yeah it is! He's right! I **AM **flirting with him!_

* * *

End Notes 

Okay so I lied...I said I wouldn't write any more until the weekend, but when I'm on a roll it's really hard to stop...well anyway, I need to get to homework so these notes will be short. As much fun as I have writing these two characters, I wish this one could keep going forever...but it's nearing its conclusion and I've only got 2 or 3 more chapters before the end. The next one's in tandem with this fic's running mate, Strength of a Nation. SoaN will cover the day from Arashi's POV, while this fic will cover Nara's. As such, I'll probably work to get them both out the same night. Which means it could be a while until I get those done.

I actually had to go back and toy with this one a bit (and may yet again)because my first independent read thought Nara and Arashi were actually going to hook up right there in the tree, when really what I wanted was for them to be friends again like old times. As a result, there's a small possibility that it's disjointed and I didn't notice...but for some reason I doubt it. It's hard to catch stuff like that when you know what it's supposed to sound like, though.

I've normally been one that encourages people to review and replies well, but I've never flat out demanded it or anything, other than the first chapter of SoaN (which was the first thing I put on the site).This time, **I have to make a huge request**. If you've got an opinion on this story in general, or this chapter, and you're still reading, PLEASE review! I've written a lot of stories, but I've fearfully avoided anything that involved developing a love interest. I want to know if I'm doing this love thing any justice! And someday, I hope to be a professional writer, so I'm quite curious as to my progress. **PLEASE **let me know what you think.

**_In review, PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	6. Approval

_From the Yondaime Story Arc:  
**Valor & Harmony **_  
**Chapter 6: Approval**

**

* * *

**

**What do you think of Arashi?**

It was a question that Uzumaki Narashima had become very familiar with. Not that anyone asked her that...it was simply that her own mind seemed to pose the question at least thrice a day. She'd grown quite used to the way her mind would drift to that topic anytime she wasn't presenting it with urgent work.

It made sense to her that she'd get so stuck on that topic...it was the freshest topic in her life as a shinobi. Over a period of about 2 weeks, she'd grown closer to him than she'd ever thought she could. She had never thought there was a distance between them to be covered in the first place...to discover that the gap between them had grown so wide was startling. Every day, she'd discovered something new that made her have to evaluate the question from scratch. Every day, she had felt like she had met a new person...so much like the old one, but not the same. It was no wonder her mind hadn't gotten over it.

What do _**you** _think of Arashi?

Six weeks had passed since the day Nara and Kazama Arashi had fought. Now that her ribs were healed, Nara was back to active duty, and Arashi was no longer tending to her wounds. Somewhere along the way, she'd left Konoha for a mission, and it dawned upon her suddenly that she hadn't seen him in nearly a week and a half. In that time, her mind had continued to ask the same questions, but now she had enough time to marinate upon the answers.

For the longest time, Arashi had been a friend to her. A good friend...the type she'd never trade in for anything. He'd been around for so long that Nara had accepted him as an unchanging part of Konoha's landscape. Almost like a pet, or a butler...or a brother. It was hard to notice when he grew out of the box she'd put him in, but it had certainly happened. And even though it had taken her some time to adjust to that fact, once she'd noticed, she'd _really _noticed.

She liked him. A lot. She hadn't bothered to tell him yet, but -- considering their meetings the week before she'd left, it probably was pretty clear. They'd gotten together a lot before her return to active duty, especially after that lunch trip to the sushi and barbecue place. Since that meeting, every time she looked directly at him, her cheeks would inevitably turn six or seven shades redder than normal. If that wasn't a clue, she didn't know what was.

He had turned into quite the handsome man, of course, but that wasn't the reason she turned into a cherry when she looked at him.It was his eyes that truly caught hers. The confidence his eyes reflected intrigued her, for she knew that had never been his strong point. The way his eyes gleamed with intensity...the way he made direct eye contact with her and didn't look away anymore...those were her greatest witnesses to the changes he'd gone through. When she looked into his eyes now, she found it hard to look away.

Even though she'd been growing more and more interested in him every time they spoke, the week plus away was really doing something to her...far more than she'd expected. She missed him something awful today, and she couldn't wait to catch up with him. After all, she was back in Konoha, and it was an off day for her. It would be good to see her friend again. And then, she heard the question.

**"What do you think of the Yondaime Hokage?" **

At first, Nara thought the words were coming from within her own mind, but it wasn't often that she thought of Arashi by his title. No...this time, the question had been _spoken. _She had been absentmindedly moving through the streets of Konoha, and her eyes quickly took in the scene, feeding her conscious mind images to work with. She realized she was standing in a major intersection of downtown Konoha, near the market area. Glancing to her left, she realized where the conversation was coming from, and quickly slid out of line of sight and onto a bench near the wooden fences.

Another voice could be heard replying to the first one. While the original voice had been powerful and cold, this one seemed to hold more authority...or at least was trained to sound that way. "I don't know of him...I have yet to meet with him."

The first voice was surprised. "Hiashi-sama, he has met with the majority of the Jounin. Have you not had any contact with him?"

"I have little contact with anyone unless it is necessary. This has been an important transition for my family, and I've taken my time with it. Besides, I think my brother has had contact with him..."

Nara recognized the second voice...it was one of her contemporaries, Hiashi...the newly appointed leader of the Hyuuga clan. But who was he talking to?

The first voice spoke again, keeping the conversation light, even though their subject matter was pretty important..."Being a clan leader at your age is rough. Which makes me wonder even more what being Hokage at his age must be like."

It was at this point that Hiashi crossed into the intersection, and Nara glanced away, only looking in the corner of her eye. The frown on his face was clear. "He is 5 years my junior, and already Hokage. It indeed must be hard on him."

The other voice boomed, and then lowered itself as it considered the area it was speaking in. "Do you think it wise of Sandaime to have chosen one so young?" Finally, he passed in front of Nara. With a start, she looked directly at him as he passed. The man was like a walking mummy, tied up in a significant amount of bandages. The top of his head and one of his eyes was bandaged. The man glanced to his left, and the eye that was uncovered locked on Nara for a split second, then he looked away.

Hiashi paused and turned to face the man. "Danzou-sama, why are you asking me this?"

Nothing from Danzou for a moment, and then he too paused. "No reason...just making conversation, and speculation." Danzou turned and faced Hiashi. "Do you think he'll last?"

Hiashi frowned. How did one answer such a question? It wasn't as if he knew the Yondaime. And yet, he did have an opinion. "If he's smart, he'll get strong advisors, and he'll survive."

Nara felt like there was more to this conversation that she had caught, but Hiashi's words were wise. She found herself suddenly drifting to thoughts about Arashi. Was he having trouble with the job? Was there any truth to what was being said? She suddenly felt bad for not checking up on him recently...

Danzou frowned, and carefully crafted his reply to Hiashi's well-stated remarks. "And if not?" It was a simple question, yet it was loaded.

Hiashi didn't waver at all. "He would not be Hokage if he was not smart."

Danzou's expression did not change, but he glanced to the Hyuuga lord and spoke. "The exuberance and invincibility of youth speaks through you...as it does through all those who come to his defense." Danzou began to walk away from Hiashi before pronouncing his opinion. "The boy won't last the week."

**"HOW DARE YOU! Where do you get off insulting the Yondaime?"**

Danzou gave pause, quite surprised by the outburst. It had not, however, come from Hyuuga Hiashi, but from behind him. Danzou turned to meet the disturbance, and carefully eyed the female who stood in front of him...the same one he'd noticed listening in a moment earlier. Based on her clothing, he'd bet she was a Jounin, and her brown-red hair spoke to the fact that she had a fiery streak in her. Danzou exhaled in frustration. This was the last type of interruption they needed.

"I am talking with Hiashi, not you...please see your way out of our conversation."

Uzumaki Narashima shook her head and looked boldly at Danzou, even though there was nothing for her to make eye contact with. "When you insult Konoha's leader and slander his name, you make it the Leaf's business." She bit back the urge to follow that with a more personal reason for butting in.

Danzou exhaled slowly, allowing her veiled threat to pass by unheeded. "What is your opinion, then, _woman_?"

Nara realized that he hadn't bothered to respect her rank. She obviously was wearing a Jounin jacket, but the man had dared to even be sexist in his reply...Nara balled a fist, but held back her rage for a bit. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am Danzou, leader of Konoha's Root," he said coolly. "I don't care for your introduction, so don't bother." With that, he turned back toward Hiashi and began to walk away from her. "In fact, your opinion isn't important either..."

Nara's eyes burned with fury; they had just insulted Arashi _and _her, but it was the insults against the Yondaime that angered her so heavily. She had no idea what _Konoha's Root_ was, but she knew that this fellow was old enough to be the Third's contemporary, and obviously thought highly of himself. She was pissed off now, and she was going to make sure he knew why...but she held her initial rage in.

**"What makes you think you're the expert on Hokage survival?"**

Danzou was set to ignore her, but Hiashi raised an eyebrow and gave a look that suggested he was thinking the same thing. Danzou immediately realized it was going to take more than just ignoring the woman for his conversation with Hiashi to continue. Danzou turned back around, and Nara could feel the hole he burned into her skull with his intense stare...even though it was only with one eye. "I simply read into the facts a bit more than most people are willing to...before it's too late."

Since she'd provoked him, and it looked like he'd have to explain everything to everyone listening in now, he would hold nothing back. "The boy is 16 years old, presented with the mission to protect this village. After being trained for a month or so, he's lost his primary trainer, his former teacher, the best fighter the Leaf has _ever _seen, and the best medical ninja ever trained. The country is vulnerable, and he's emotional and wishy-washy from the loss of his teachers. He's under more pressure than he's ever been placed under, and Sarutobi never trained the boy for war...he was too blind to see it mounting himself."

Hiashi fought the urge to roll his eyes. Leave it to Danzou to get in a barb about his eternal rival, Sarutobi Sandaime...there was no love between those two. He no longer felt the urge to keep his opinions in check. "I do not appreciate you insulting the Third Hokage...he was nothing if not working in the village's best interests." Even if he would speak his mind, he would do so diplomatically.

"The Third was a foolish man, chasing an ideal...a peaceful world that would no longer need war." Danzou raised his voice a bit, then paused. With a sigh, he loosened up, and began to walk away. "I can see my words are wasted here. Very well...that is twice today. It will not be said that I did not try to get people to see."

Nara had caught enough of what he'd said to jump on. "So you, Danzou, are a hawk? You want war? You would risk the Leaf's lives in order to fight an unnecessary battle?"

Danzou was in no mood to defend himself, but he wouldn't let the doves dominate this conversation..."What battle is unneccessary?"

"Sandaime avoided putting the Leaf in danger as much as he could...what could you possibly see wrong in his approach?"

"He only delayed the inevitable...and lo and behold, what happens as soon as he leaves?"

Nara raised an eyebrow. He was talking like war was already happening...

Hiashi licked his lips and spoke. "I think a man who saves lives will surpass one who takes them. He avoids war because he values life...which is more than I can say for you."

Danzou didn't look at him at all... "You are a fool...those who side with him often are." Danzou took a deep breath, and then continued on. "Some of the traits you speak of may be useful in stopping war, but that doesn't matter anymore." Danzou walked further away from them, and announced, "War is upon us, whether you like it or not."

With that, he was gone, and Hyuuga Hiashi made a hasty exit. Nara sat down on the bench and let the conversation sink in...

* * *

Whatever was going on, Nara decided it was time to hear it from the horse's mouth. She hadn't seen Arashi-kun in a week and a half...he was busy being Hokage, and she errands to run and training to get back to now that her ribs were fully healed. It was time for that to change. Nara went into Central Command and up to the 4th floor, and knocked on the door to Arashi's office. 

A not so warm response replied to her knock...it sounded like it lacked the energy to be warm. "It's open..."

Nara tried the door and indeed found it unlocked. Lightly opening the door, Nara took a look around. It was the first time in a while that she had been in the office of the Hokage. She certainly had never come here since Arashi had become the Fourth, and even before that her memories of the Third's office were faint. Only the most secret of missions required debriefing within the office of the Hokage, and she had rarely been involved in those. As she walked in and glanced at the pictures on the wall, she began to wonder if the Third had ever felt comfortable here.

It sure didn't seem like the Fourth was.

She only took a single step before she noticed the look on the Hokage's face. He had a thick sheet of paperwork in his hands, and the look on his face was angry and brooding. "Geez, Arashi, you look..._mean_. Nara blurted, immediately regretting the outburst. She had disturbed him, and that wasn't her plan at all. Slowly, Arashi's features softened, and he cordially waved her into the room. "Come on in, seriously."

Arashi diverted his eyes back to the paperwork, perhaps to finish before talking with her. Nara figured as much and remained silent. Instead of sitting, she walked over to the window behind his desk and took in his view of the village. She suddenly became aware that the room and halls were completely quiet...every visit she had ever made to this area had been filled with noise, hustle, and bustle. Now, she could hear a pin drop, or in this case, a pen. Arashi stooped down and picked up the dropped writing utensil, mumbling something beneath his breath.

Things in this room seemed even more down than Danzou had alluded to. It seemed the Hokage had a ton of stuff on his mind.

Nara waited a bit longer, but something hinted to her that Arashi was pretty much done with the paperwork. With a start, she jogged over to one of the chairs and dived into it, landing sideways on the chair's armrests and tilting so that her butt just barely touched the backrest of the chair. Lightly, almost goofily, she asked exactly what was on her mind. "So...what's got you so tied in knots?"

Arashi seemed to hold what he was doing and think for a moment before responding. "I've just had a rough day, that's all."

_Yeah right, _Nara thought. She actively attempted to make eye contact with Arashi, and he actively diverted his eyes away. Why was he being so guarded today? Whatever the reason, it wasn't like him, and she found that more unsettling than his down mood. "You're having more than just a _bad_ day," she said, half-demanding an answer.

A frown crossed Arashi's face and stayed there, and his brow furrowed deeply as he considered his options. "I really shouldn't discuss any of this until I talk to the elders..."

Nara eyed him sadly. _Haven't you learned to trust me yet, Arashi-kun? _She didn't want to press him on that at all, but everything she'd needed to get across came across in the next two seconds of eye contact. "I won't tell anyone," Nara whispered. It was a simple statement...not really a demand for answers, so much as a promise to keep those answers locked away if asked to do so.

There was a small pause, and then Arashi seemed to make a decision. "We found Orochimaru today..."

Nara gasped. That was significant news.

Arashi paused and then frowned. "Actually, that's not accurate. Uchiha Sazuka, one of the Konoha police investigators went out on her own and found him. The ANBU, and all the official lines of investigation, were not involved. She found him, and the ANBU found her later, bleeding to death." He paused again, perhaps in honor of her effort. "She apparently put up a good fight, but she died in vain...Orochimaru will not hang around anymore now that he knows we're on to him. She should have gotten the heck out of there."

Nara gave no reply. She would let him speak, and respond after he'd told her what he needed to get off his chest. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with him.

"On top of that, a couple of _diplomats _from Rock Village of Stone Country and Cloud Village of Lightning Country showed up today. At least they claimed to be diplomats, but it was obvious that they were probably trained scouts and spies. There's a good chance they were in the area already, waiting for a cue. They came asking about the chuunin exams that Sarutobi had arranged to have held here...they wanted to change their previous votes and discuss the security of Konoha for the exams. It's obvious that they'd gained word of what all has happened here this week...and they were looking to confirm it." Arashi sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"I'd rather have told them to go f--- themselves than give them that information, but Sarutobi has me hemmed in a corner. If we want to keep the chuunin exams here, we have to tell them all that's happened and discuss it. So the real question is if we want the chuunin exams here."

Nara nodded lightly and responded. "Do we want the chuunin exams here?"

Arashi replied, "Not at the risk of national security, I'd say. But, apparently my say in the matter is limited, because this was one of Sandaime's biggest fights in diplomacy, and to go back on it would be to spit in his face. The elders aren't taking it lightly, and I think we're going to take the fall for it."

"How much of a problem will this create?"

"A big one. We don't want to let on anything to Rock and Cloud that we don't have to...but this would pretty much alert them to the fact that the Sannin are gone. That might change their mind about a lot of recent diplomacy..."

Nara paused at his words. So, this was really an issue of the Sannin being gone. Hadn't he said before...

"Enough has happened here in the last few days that they might consider changing their relationship with Konoha entirely. This could easily turn into war...a war we wouldn't win easily." The words were stated solidly, as if they had been considered for hours, and this was the final verdict.

Nara's brow furrowed as she considered those words. She looked toward the depressed face of Arashi, and confusion washed over her. _Weren't you the one who said our power was in our middle? That hasn't changed..._why was he so convinced that they would have trouble if he really believed what he had said? His entire analysis thus far had just included being secretive about what had happened with the Sannin...it didn't seem like there was any other reason for his lack of faith thus far...Nara remained silent, but her face gave away her confusion.

"In fact, I'm afraid that the way we are now, we'd lose that fight if they allied with each other." Arashi balled a fist in frustration. "I wish Sarutobi were here..."

Something within Nara registered this for what it was. This was Arashi's old lack of confidence rearing its ugly head again. Instead of feeling bad for him, however, she was just confused. _Everything I've seen in him recently suggested this was gone...and now it comes back this strongly? _Nara considered herself an expert on the way Arashi thought, but she could see no logical reason for him to be so down right now, unless...

**Unless he'd never really been confident in the first place. **But was that possible? Nara ran through the past in her mind.

When she'd fought him, he'd definitely shown complete confidence in his ability. That wasn't to be disputed now. He had handled everything she'd thrown at him, and he'd done so with flying colors. But, that was his combat ability...he had been trained by the legendary Jiraiya, so that was to be expected. And it wouldn't be surprising for him to be entirely confident in his abilities there, when he trained with Jiraiya every day...

**Did Arashi truly believe he was the right person to be Hokage? **That, Nara realized was the true question. It was a question that, unfortunately, she had had no way to test in her battle with him. Even if he wasn't completely confident in his ability as a leader, he knew he had backup that was. Jiraiya could be Hokage if he wanted...but he didn't want to. Tsunade certainly understood what was involved in the job, considering she herself was the granddaughter of the First...the founder of the Leaf Village. And of course, there was Sarutobi himself, who was training Arashi directly...

It was possible, she concluded, that he didn't believe he was ready. Beyond that, it was possible that the Sandaime hadn't believed he was ready either. That would explain why he had hung around so long. She didn't like the theory...it took away a lot of Arashi's credibility.

Suddenly, the conversation they'd had at lunch with the other Jounin and chuunin entered her mind...the one where he talked about the Konoha ANBU and their influence on the country's strength...

* * *

_"...this situation is a direct consequence of the way ANBU has been organized…remember…a strong top is vital, but a nation that has a strong middle—or even a tough bottom—is going to outlast a nation with just a powerful top, more than likely. Unless the tops are just not worth comparing..."_

* * *

Her mind began to question the credibility of what Arashi had said that day. And, while she wasn't in a position to truly question his statements, she could say one thing. Her face shifted into a look of disgust as she realized the full extent of what her conclusion was. Arashi noticed the shift, and his words quickly dried to silence in surprise. 

Nara had never felt as disappointed in anything as she felt right then, and she was sure it was showing in her eyes. And surprisingly enough, part of her was deeply angered. She'd given her best attempt to pointing out the fraud she'd thought Arashi had become. And she'd been right. She just wasn't strong...or smart enough to point properly. Quickly, she turned her eyes away from his and looked toward his picture on the wall instead. Even that picture looked depressed, and it only led her to feel even more pissed off.

"All those things you said before...about our strength being our middle..." She hadn't realized she was talking aloud for a moment, and she certainly hadn't expected her own voice to sound so shaky. Her mind was deeply wounded by her conclusions, however, and she knew it was because her image of Arashi as a man to be admired had been completely destroyed.

Arashi heard her words and raised an eyebrow in what seemed to be surprise. A part of her became unsure, seeing that expression, as to whether her conclusion was the only one. And yet, she couldn't come up with another valid one. "I see now...that you never believed that." Fire entered her words as she spoke...and anger overtook doubt.

Arashi was being two-faced in what he chose to show to people, and she would call him on it. When asked about Konoha's strength, he had said what he thought sounded cool, or perhaps regurgitated something that Sandaime-sama had taught him recently. Perhaps it was ANBU indoctrination at its finest, who knew? Wherever it had come from, however, Nara was convinced that Arashi was not a firm believer in his own words. He had become a bold-faced liar.

Looking into his eyes for some hint of further defeat, she found none. The look on his face was one of genuine confusion, but she refused to allow the doubt to come back. "If you honestly believed what you said before, you wouldn't be so distraught as you _obviously are_." She reached a point where it was hard to look at him...believing he was such a good liar required her to doubt everything he did until now...and that made her want to hit him. Her fists balled without conscious thought...

Arashi slipped onto the defensive in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Knowing what she thought she knew about Arashi, she expected that if she were dead wrong, he would call her on it. Saying "what the hell" was not dead out calling her out...it was evading giving a direct answer. Trying not to lie directly to someone's face. Nara's face reddened and her lip quivered as she grew absolutely sick of hunting for the truth. _Either tell me I'm wrong, or shut the hell up! _

_**"You know what I mean, damn it!" **_Nara rose from her seat in rage and smashed her fists on the front of Arashi's desk, watching him carefully as he braced for a moment, but kept his eye contact. His eyes remained confused more than anything, although panic was beginning to set in. "There's no need to lie to me too!" Arashi's lips began to quiver on their own, and no sound came out. Nara began to wonder whether it was better to hit him or just walk out. The longer she looked at him, the more she suspected it would be the former if she didn't leave now.

Suddenly, she saw recognition in his eyes, as if something had just begun to make sense to him. Almost immediately, he responded...urgently, as if something very important depended on his promptness. "**NO.** That's just not true. I haven't lied to you or anyone on that matter." He never broke eye contact with her, but his eyes shifted a bit, as though he were still considering something...

Nara's eyes burned with fury, but deep within, her brain was moving a hundred miles an hour. Everything about the look on his face suggested that this really was unexpected commentary from her. But, the only way that would make sense was if he was being truly genuine. Part of her mind warned her that if he was as good as lying as she was making him out to be, then making convincing faces wouldn't be too far of a jump...that just strengthened the other side's argument. The other part of her swore that Arashi couldn't have possibly been that two-faced. Considering how long she had known him, that part had much more influence.

The anger began to slip away, and soon Nara found herself completely lost again. "If that's not the case," she demanded, "then _what is your problem_?"

Arashi's expression remained unchanged...he was still looking directly at her, but within his eyes one could see the thought process moving along. It seemed things were finally sinking in on his end, and anger crossed his look for a moment. Nara stumbled backwards into her chair as Arashi raised his voice at her.

**"Of course I believe my own theories," **Arashi yelled. **"Why wouldn't I?" **Nara heard the frustration and anger in his voice...and realized that it had probably just sunk in that _she'd _called him a **liar**. Suddenly, she felt ashamed for having jumped to conclusions so quickly.

For Arashi's part, he realized that he'd just yelled at her, balled a fist, and hit the desk. Then, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started over. "I believe my own theories," Arashi stated calmly, and glanced to her. "Who else does?"

Nara's breath caught when she heard his words. She knew exactly what he meant.

"Who among the Leaf really believes that the loss of the Sannin hasn't left us vulnerable and weak?" He returned the accusing look she had given him earlier. "**Do YOU?**"

Nara honestly couldn't answer that, and she quickly looked away from his defiant and accusing face.

"Who do you think, among our enemies, actually believes that? What good is our strength doing us?"

Nara couldn't say anything in response. He'd proven his point...and gone entirely silent. The silence took the room by storm, and Nara let his words sink in.

Arashi was not the enemy here. Rock and Cloud were. Nara refocused her anger on something that deserved it. With a sigh, Nara resigned herself to the fact that there was probably going to be war soon. It was time for Konoha to risk its life again. She realized Arashi was speaking again, his voice reserved and quiet.

"We've remained diplomatic with the Rock and the Cloud, despite their _open _determination to one day be the strongest countries. Their leaders have always been more than a bit afraid to cross us in the past, and that probably has something to do with it. Now...I don't know how long hostilities will remain down, especially considering today."

Something still didn't make sense to Nara. "So, we go to war," Nara pronounced tranquilly. She made eye contact with him again, her eyes less probing this time, but still quite curious. "That still doesn't explain why you're having such a hard time coping..." War was part of being a shinobi, and she was surprised that someone like a Hokage would be so shaken by the idea that they would have to fight soon...

She watched his look shift from depression to semi-shock, and he shifted forward in his seat, closing the distance between them a bit. "Do you realize how hard this battle will be? Do you remember those scenarios I told you about before, where the Raikage and Doukage attacked one wall, while the three lords of Cloud attacked another? There's a chance that something like that could actually happen, you know..."

Nara frowned a bit and nodded. "I don't mean to downplay them at all...but we've gone to war before. I just don't think that's what you are afraid of," Nara stated blankly. She had a feeling she wouldn't need to say more than that.

She didn't need to. Arashi shifted in the chair again and sat back for a moment as he recognized what she was getting at. He looked away from her and fiddled with the paperwork before speaking again. "Cloud and Rock are both north of us, separated by a lake and a country without a shinobi village. It wouldn't be too difficult for them to send reinforcements and cover each other's backs. They have a very well-placed geographical alliance, complete with a supply line that we can't easily shut down since we don't have a navy. Meanwhile, our distance to each is nearly as far as the distance between them...but our path involves cutting through other villages, or taking a more roundabout route..."

Nara nodded at each detail, making note of what he was saying. She had to stop herself from being as impatient as normal, but she knew there was a reason Arashi was saying all this, and she'd figure it out...

"Also, we're at a disadvantage because we don't intend to make the first move...that means we'll be playing from behind. Because of all this, we're going to be fighting with our backs against the wall for some time. This is the kind of battle which could easily become a war of attrition. It could go on for years before we effectively bring things into a stalemate and truce...or it could become a bloodbath for everyone involved, and we'd have to pick up the pieces of Konoha and rebuild..."

"One false move or error," Nara replied, "and kiss Konoha goodbye." Nara got it now. "You're afraid that the wrong decision that causes our failure could be your own..." She looked to him again, looking for confirmation.

Arashi looked away from her, which was all the confirmation she needed. "Despite everything I've been through, I haven't been trained to handle this type of chaos, and I've already done a horrible job. If I keep making mistakes, could we be put in an unwinnable situation before we even get the chance to fight?"

Nara finally began to feel like she was understanding him, but she didn't have time to be happy about that. Now, pure concern motivated her. Arashi had just effectively told her that his training wasn't complete, and she couldn't grasp what he meant...but if he thought he wasn't ready, that was a great problem for everyone involved. More so, it was a concern for her, his friend, because he was obviously hurting.

He got awkward under her continued scrutiny, but that didn't stop him from talking. "I wish Sandaime were here...I don't know how he managed this, considering the first half of his time as Hokage was a huge war. We haven't even had a war yet, and I'm already at wits' end...I don't know..."

This was it, she realized. The problem she'd been searching for...the thing that was depressing him so much. As little as she knew about being a Hokage, it was easy enough for her to recognize the fears in Arashi...he was afraid of anything and everything that was going on. Every detail was dangerous, because he wasn't sure in what he could or could not do. And the emotional stress this was causing him was magnified a thousand fold by the stakes of the situation. Arashi felt the weight of the entire city upon his head...because a mistake at his level would risk everyone's lives.

For the first time in a long time, she remembered that Arashi was 3 years her junior, and he really looked it.

And as much as she wanted to be older sister...to help him be Hokage, she knew he had to learn for himself...

Nara took a deep breath, and then lightly scooted her chair up to the desk and planted her hands on the end of it. "Listen to me carefully, Arashi." She looked directly into his eyes, unwavering, doing her best to show how much she believed in him. "You remember when we first became Jounin, when we thought they were going to give us teams to lead?"

Arashi silently nodded.

A very small smile crept onto her face as she remembered those happier times. She noticed Arashi began to smile too. "Both of us were scared to death of trying to train kids...we thought we'd get our whole teams killed." That had been her fear more than his, but that was beside the point. "Sandaime-sama told us something important when we talked to him about it...do you remember what he said?"

Arashi considered what she'd asked and tried to remember. A moment later, he shook his head no. Nara raised a finger and shook it lightly, surprised that she remembered this story more than he did. _"There are times when you can't worry about your team...just do your part and trust that the others will do theirs."_

There wasn't much more she could say to help him than that, but she was driven to say more. Compassion filled her heart as she realized what all he probably had gone through the past week. She honestly wished she had been here sooner, but this was all she could do now...Nara held the tears back and spoke again.

"If Sandaime would say that about leading a genin team, they are definitely still applicable now, Arashi...no one expects you to do it all...this isn't your war, it's Konoha's. And we are your team. You are our leader. Surely, Sandaime told you what a Hokage's mission is...this is the time you should do it, and trust that the rest of Konoha will do ours." A confident smile crossed her face as she spoke. _You're not alone in this, boy. I've got your back._

Arashi smiled back. That was a good sign.

Before she could start crying, Nara did what she knew would stop her voice from being shaky: she raised it. "Do you realize you've reached the pinnacle of being a shinobi, and you're not even enjoying it?" She couldn't help a tear running down her eye as she spoke...the roughest part of their conversation had passed, but that didn't mean the emotions had gone away. It was rough for her to even consider what all Arashi must have felt sitting in that chair on a normal day, let alone what he had gone through today. "You're killing yourself with worry! I'd _never_ want to be Hokage if I saw you moping around like this all day..."

All of a sudden, she realized she sounded like she was his mother.

Arashi chose that exact moment to chuckle loudly, and then a much more comfortable silence than earlier covered the room. Arashi looked back to her, and a warm smile spread across his face. "Thanks, Nara...I appreciate it."

That was all she needed...a little appreciation, and enough of a smile from Arashi for her to know her words had indeed affected him. She could accept his thanks with her words, but deep down, she'd needed to help him as much as he'd needed help. "Anytime," she said as nonchalantly as she could.

"No," Arashi said. "Really, I mean it." His eyes expressed sincere gratitude, and Nara noticed he was close to crying too. "You did something today I didn't expect from anyone." His hands slipped from her view and behind the desk, and she heard a drawer open. A moment later, there was a tissue box on the desk, and Nara quickly snatched the box from him and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I really was thinking that my support corner had bailed on me. My sensei Jiraiya, almost like my father...my 'mom' Tsunade...my trainer as a kage, Sarutobi...all gone. I've felt so...alone." Nara watched as Arashi shut his eyes tightly and sobbed loudly. Part of her wanted to go around the desk separating them and hug him, but he quickly opened his eyes and smiled to her. The tears were flowing like rivers from his eyes, but it was obvious that these were tears of _joy_.

Arashi spoke with a shaky voice, and allowed the tears to flow down to his shirt. "Of all my support crew, Nara-chan...I'm glad you're the one who stayed."

That comment had Nara blushing like a madwoman, but Arashi didn't notice. His thoughts had drifted away for a moment, it appeared. Nara took a moment to blow her nose and let her cheeks cool before looking back to him again. When she did, she saw an entirely different person from earlier.

Arashi had _that look _on his face...the one that she associated with her parents...or Valentine's Day. It was a look of gratitude and love. "Someday, maybe I'll explain to you what all you just did...but for now this will have to suffice."

It was the look, and not the words that had her confused...she'd barely noticed what he'd said. Arashi walked around his desk and extended a hand to her. Looking up at him curiously, she saw those deep green eyes of his once more, and noticed that she could barely even tell he'd been crying and depressed all day. He looked reenergized and filled with vigor, and his face reflected the intensity she'd seen in it when she'd faced him in battle.

Once she grabbed his hand, he pulled her up from the seat and into his arms. A tight embrace surrounded her suddenly, and it was all she could do to melt into his strong arms. "Thank you," he said. "You've reminded me of more than you know...and you've proven why I call you my best friend."

She hugged him back as best she could, but he quickly let go of her. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to have to go back to being Hokage now." His eyes twinkled for a moment as he looked at her.

Nara nodded and smiled. "You go do that," she replied. Her eyes were locked upon his, and she could clearly see the strength and confidence in his eyes. It was like looking at an entirely different person than the boy sitting at the desk earlier. This was a man...and she could feel the temperature of her cheeks increase by 20 degrees...this was the man she admired.

Arashi didn't have time to notice, she hoped. He quickly said his goodbyes and she promised she'd see herself out. He had to go see the elders, and she knew that would take some time. _You go be the Hokage we all know you can be, _Nara thought.

And it was obvious to her that if he could just get his mind and body to match his eyes, he'd be the best kage ever. Yikes...

**_

* * *

_**

This is a freaking huge chapter...nearly 7500 words.

It's also a deadly serious point in the fic, and I really tried my best to make it the best chapter of the fic. Unfortunately, with this much detail and length, that proved to be a lot harder than I'd thought. It was an especially bad idea to do most of the writing at 2 and 3 in the morning. That's not normally a problem for me, but scenes like this are beyond what I normally write, and I'm not entirely comfortable doing them yet. I really need to get more time during the day to write.

Despite the fact that I've spent a little over 2 weeks on this chapter, it comes off a bit rushed to me. I wrote this scene from Arashi's viewpoint in **Yondaime: Strength of a Nation**, and I think I got tripped up a little bit in trying to give Nara's viewpoint for this chapter, and in trying to make it different enough for readers of one fic to want to read the chap from the other one. Even though I don't particularly like the way the chapter came out, I'm going to put up this version while I consider what to do about it. I'm on Spring Break at the moment, so I may do a full rewrite of this chapter at some point. If you think it's necessary (or you really think it isn't) let me know either through review or PM.

**_END CHAPTER 6_**


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